In The Dark
by Crom Cruaich
Summary: Remy LeBeau was not alone in captivity with Stryker. Another Cajun was there, but this one of the Assassins Guild. An unlikely friendship forms. Now with Andrea Boudreaux by his side, no one can stand against the Gambit and the Zephyr. Remy/OC
1. Chapter 1

Alright, disclaimer here for the whole story:

**Unfortunately, I don't own the X-men. **

_If I did, I wouldn't be writing FanFiction and I wouldn't be as poor, poor as I am… _

_My OC is the only thing I do own, but even she is inspired by Marvel, and as such I can't actually sue anyone over it. Bummer._

_Please keep in mind that English is not my first language, neither is French, therefore mistakes will appear. Please don't flame me on them, I can't help it._

_Oh, and the timelines aren't canon with anything. I am the author here, so I've just shifted them around till I got what I wanted. So no moaning about wrong ages and stuff. Really, I don't care about it._

_Righto… let's get on with it then~ _

* * *

><p>Remy gave an angry snarl as he was thrown into a cage, lined at all sides with bars, by the sneering, hateful guards. Fourteen, nearly fifteen years old, and he was a prisoner, not celebrating the holidays with his family as he should be doing. He hit the floor with a loud thud, rolling a bit to bleed off his momentum and prevent himself from breaking anything. Well, anything more. As the guards turned away with a derisive laugh, he swore foully in French and English, cursing the day he got careless enough to be caught by Stryker's lackeys. He had been taken, drugged into unconsciousness, from New Orleans about two months ago. Taken to some God forsaken island where the scientists used mutants as their own personal let's-cut-them-up toys. Suppressing another round of curses he pushed himself to his feet, taking in his new cell.<p>

He had managed to blow up his old one, and because of that he would have to share, as one sneering guard had told him. In a corner of the cage was his new roommate. He chuckled mentally at that, well, cage-mate then. It was a girl, a young woman, looking to be his age with long dark brown hair around her head, and she was shackled to the bars of the cage, which caused him to raise an eyebrow. He didn't know anybody had managed to be enough trouble to warrant being shackled in their cell, but apparently this _femme_ had managed it. He smirked, then decided to introduce himself. They would after all be stuck with one another for some time. "_Bonjour_, _chere_, Remy be jus' introducing himself den? Remy be guessin' we be stuck-"

He chocked on air as the woman raised her head to look at him with chilly, familiar blue eyes. "_Dieu_…" He breathed out harshly in shock. "Boudreaux. Din' know yo' was a mutant, _hein_?"

The woman in the cell just gave him a silent once over, then sneered. "Jus' 'cause yo' din managed t' be covert, LeBeau, don' mean odders don'. Bad form fo' a T'ief t' not 'ave 'n ace up deir sleeve, _non_?"

Remy sighed, then ran a hand through his hair. He had never expected to find an Assassin of all people also stuck in this place, and from the looks of it, she had been there longer than he. Andrea Boudreaux. He didn't know her, he just knew of her, after all, she was the niece of the Patriarch of the Assassins Guild. Therefore a serious threat and person to know of for any Thief of the New Orleans Guild. He gave her a half hearted grin. "_Merde_, 'ssassin, ne'er imagined dat one o' yo' would get caught."

She turned her nose up to him, looking down on him with a haughty air, but her eyes held an amused sparkle. "Jus' like a T'ief t' pass o'er de reason he is caught t' look at de odders mistakes, LeBeau." She shifted, her cuffs clanking against the bars and she grimaced. "Don' t'ink dey let yo' keep yo' tools, LeBeau? Dese cuffs be a mite uncomfortable."

Remy snorted. "Remy wishes. _Non_. No luck wit' dat, _chère_." He gave her a once over and sat down cross-legged in front of her. "'Ow long you been here, Boudreaux? De Guild ne'er heard yo' been missin'."

"Yo' wouldn' have, LeBeau. Was under Contract dat was s'pposed t' be fo' quite a few weeks. _Bâtards_ took me during de briefin' on mah supposed marks. _Très__embarrassant_. Been here now fo' 'bout five months. Ah t'ink" She grimaced. "Ne'er gon live dat down when Ah get back. _Oncle_ be merciless." She gave a sudden raspy laugh, surprising the hell out of Remy. "Ah t'ink he'll be even more merciless 'bout the fact dat Ah been in a room wit' a T''ief an' were polite wit'out tryin' t' kill him."

Remy snorted at that, then laughed too. "Remy be worried when he go back, if he tell Henri he be looked at if he be losing 'is sanity. A polite 'ssassin? What de world comin' t'?"

"_Mon oncle_ probably just give me more trainin' t' beat out de crazy." A raspy chuckle grated in her throat, but the sly smile that stole over her face couldn't be stopped no matter what she did. "_Mais_, t' get t' de point, yo' got any plans t' get outta here yet, LeBeau? After all, y' are de T'ief here."

Remy shrugged. "_Non_, not yet, _mais_ if de inspiration strikes yo' be de first one Remy'll tell, _hein_?"

That got him a slow, playful smile, and the Assassin closed her eyes again, leaning back into the cold metal.

* * *

><p>Andrea was nearly spitting fire as she cursed at the guards that were dragging her cellmate away to parts unknown. Well, technically she knew where they were taking him, but she rather didn't think off it. She had been in the experimentation facility for a bit over two years now, and had surprisingly, or maybe not that surprisingly, grown quite a bit closer to her cellmate. At first they had expected to be separated again after a while, but then more and more young mutants were brought in and the cells became fuller, so they kept more than one person per cage.<p>

She didn't mind anymore. Sure, in the outside world the two of them would probably sooner have cut each others throat out than get along, but in there, they were the only support they had.

They had talked about their families, about their powers (hers being the manipulation of wind/air and some illusions, Remy with his kinetic charging and empathy), about what they would like to do when they got out.

They always kept saying _when_. Never _if_. Saying _if_ was the first step to loosing hope, and they had sworn to each other that they would get out of there, that they would sneak out together and go back to N'Awlins and drink until they wouldn't know their own name anymore and then go out to the bayou and watch the sunrise. That was the plan. And they already were moving.

They had been mapping out all the pathways in the base they could observe when they were taken out, they listened in when guards and scientists thought they were unconscious from either pain, drugs or a beating they had gotten. One point in their favour was that they had finally stopped locking her in the shackles to the cage. The fools probably thought she wouldn't have any energy left. Shame on them. It was the oldest trick in the book. Those bastards should have known better than to place two professionals, an Assassin and a Thief, in one cell with the motivation to escape.

She settled back down on the floor of her cage as the guards disappeared from view, keeping her farce up. A snort came from the cage next to her and she turned to look at the blond haired girl who had made the sound. The girl sneered at her. "I don't know why you two keep trying. It's not like the two of you will get out of here on your own."

"Dat's what yo' t'ink, _petite fille_." Andrea smirked coldly at the girl. Emma Frost had been a pain in the ass from the moment she had arrived, always complaining and telling them that they couldn't escape on their own and that only her sister would mange to get them out. She also kept trying to make fun of the Cajun accent of her and Remy, and of the fact that they wouldn't give their real names, sticking to their mutant ones. The Frost girl tried taunting them with saying that they probably didn't even know their real name. It didn't bother them, really, mostly because the little girl had no grounds for her dislike of them and wasn't really good at insulting, therefore just giving them some entertainment in that hellhole.

Andrea allowed some of her work persona to come to the surface, and she knew she had succeeded when the girl flinched back. "Dis Cajun an' de T'ief will get out o' here, wit'out de help o' yo' sister. We don' like waitin' 'round fo' de obvious solution. Only cowards do dat, well, cowards an' fools, _hein_."

The girl sneered weakly and turned away, leaving Andrea to contemplate the escape plan she and Remy had hatched so far in peace. They knew the way out, they knew where to go first to destroy all samples and files that had been taken on then and all they needed now were tools to open the doors for them. Well, tools for Remy to open the doors for them. He was the Thief after all, and therefore the best at picking locks of the two of them. She murmured a soft prayer under her breath, then closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep until Remy would be returned.

The experiments this time didn't take long, so after three hours Remy was dumped back in the cage by the guards. He gave a pained smile to Andrea, then winced. "Zephyr, _chère_, yo' up fo' helpin' dis poor Cajun?"

Andrea smiled at the use of her mutant name, then rolled her eyes. "Poor Cajun? Don' know where yo' get dose idea's, _mais_ dey be stupid, _cher_. Yo' no poor Cajun, Ah'm de only poor Cajun 'ere." Her smile became a smirk, then she crawled over to him, turning him over and taking in his wounds. "Gambit. Dey be quick dis time, _non_?"

"_Ouias_. Prob'ly buildin' up t' some odder experiment." Remy smirked, then with a sleigh of hand, unnoticed by all those watching, put a small piece of metal in her hand, then showed his arm, with held some wounds. He pouted. "_Mais_ dey still hurt Gambit."

Andrea kept her expression smooth with ease of training, but she sent him a quick smirk to show him she got it. "Aw, yo' _petit bébé_, yo' want _moi_ t' kiss 't bettah?"

With the ease of much practice they fell into their light bantering, keeping an inconspicuous eye on the guards and their fellow prisoners, until they were left alone. All the guards were gone and their fellow prisoners were asleep. Remy smirked and rolled up. Andrea smirked back and smoothly rose to her feet. "Yo' bettah pick dat lock fast, Gambit. Ah c'n smell dat freedom, _homme_. Ah ain't waitin' anymore."

Remy snorted, then took the little metal piece and started fiddling with the lock. A few moments later it gave a quiet click, and swung open. Andrea stared. "_Merde_."

She breathed out harshly, then shook her head, slipping out behind Remy who had taken point. Breathing a sigh of relief as she felt her powers return from them leaving the suppression field, she quickly constructed a light illusion around them, one that would make them mostly invisible. She murmured the completion of her task to Remy. "Done, Gambit."

He nodded, then slunk along through the shadows, Andrea on his heels. They managed to slip through the halls unnoticed, and it was only as they entered the room which held the files that they ran into people. Andrea quickly slipped past Remy and took the scientist out with a chop to the throat, enhanced with a sharp wrap of wind around her hand, cutting the throat. Remy raised a single eyebrow, then got to work, searching out their paper records as Andrea seated herself behind the computer and started hacking.

"_Merde_!" Andrea swore as the computer gave a beep, flashing the sign of entry cut off, just as she reached their files. "_Desole_, dey got onto _moi_, _homme_. Gon' have t' take out de whole system."

Her only answer was a crackle and pop as Remy destroyed their paper files, then he headed out. "Yo' do dat, Gambit'll take out de DNA bank, _non_?"

A terse nod was his answer and Andrea snarled. She would succeed and they would get out now. They would.

* * *

><p>Remy gasped for air as he flung his tired body on the ground. A thud next to him informed him that Andrea had collapsed. He gave a giddy laugh. "We be out, 'Rea. Made 't out de prison, <em>chère<em>."

A breathless chuckle was his answer, then an arm fell over him as Andrea turned over to curl up beside him. "We save 'ere, _hein_, Rems? We be off de path."

Soft, rhythmic breathing came back and she chuckled again, closing her own eyes and dropping off into the realm of sleep.

They were free.

* * *

><p>The city of New Orleans rose up in front of them, all twinkling lights and faint music wafting through the air. Remy took a deep breath, then he sighed. "We here, <em>chère<em>. What be de plan?"

"Get back home, den keep in contact, _hein_?" Andrea glanced at him, then gave him a small smile. "Ne'er t'ought 't would happen, _mais_ yo' my friend, Remy LeBeau, so don' yo' dare t' ignore my existence. We jus' keep 't silent, therefore no moanin' o' de _famille_ 'bout insanity, an' meet up fo' drinks an' such. What do y' say?"

A quirky grin greeted her as she peeked at him again, and she turned to face him properly. Then, before he had the chance to react, she threw her arms around him in a tight hug. After a moment of surprise he hugged her back, then let her go with a wide smile. "If yo' will hug Remy ev'rytime like dat when we meet up, Remy'll be dere fo' sure."

She laughed, then drew back from him, turning back to the sight of the city. She slipped a card from her pocket, one she had stolen from Remy a few days before when they had 'shopped' for supplies, such as clothes, food, weapons… and cards. With a grin she flipped it to him, laughing again as he caught the Queen of Hearts with a surprised look on his face. "Dat be mah number, _cher_, so yo' don' have an excuse t' forget t' call _moi_."

Remy laughed before moving away in the dark. They had decided to enter the city from separate directions and at different times. He would enter first, she would enter 38 minutes later. They were home.

* * *

><p>Andrea snorted in derision as she entered the Assassins' Mansion, also known as the Boudreaux Mansion, unopposed, silently flowing from shadow to shadow. Sure, she had taken some lessons from Remy in sneaking, but they still should have spotted her before she came that far. She stopped in front of the door to the Patriarch's office, hesitating fro a moment before knocking swiftly. As her uncles familiar voice bode her to enter, she opened the door and gave a shaking smile as she took in the people in the study. Her uncle Marius, the Patriarch, was seated behind his desk. Her father was seated in one of the chairs in front of the desk, her cousin Belladonna was pacing in front of the fireplace and two of the Councillors were standing by the desk with their arms crossed. There was a moment of silence as they all took in who exactly was standing in the doorway, before Belladonna gave an almighty squeal and flung herself to Andrea. "Andy!"<p>

Andrea grimaced at the nickname, even as she took her cousin in her arms and hugged her tightly, starting to shake. Then Belladonna was pulled away and her father Marcus was standing in front of her, stone-faced. "If yo' are truly Andrea, den what did yo' do on yo' fourth birt'day?"

"Ah set fire t' _ma mere_ 'er dress, Ah was grounded fo' _trois_ _semaine_ an' Maman took all de matches in de house away. Ah din' even get any cake. " Andrea gave a tremulous smile as she reached out for Marcus, whose expression had lightened to relief as she spoke. "_Vous manqué, Papa_."

Before she could blink the was swept up in a tight hug as her father whispered prayers in rapid French in her hair. She started shaking softly, her arms clasped tightly around Marcus. A few minutes later they both composed themselves a bit and Andrea saw that the Councillors had disappeared and that Belladonna had taken a seat on one of the chairs. Marius quickly swept in and pulled her in a tight hug too, before he held her at arms length, giving her a quick once over. "_Dieu Merci_, _p'tite_, we t'ought yo' was gone. Yo' disappeared."

Andrea gave a nod, then allowed her father to steer her to a chair. She took a deep breath, then expelled it and started talking. "De Contract was a bust from de beginnin', _oncle_. Dey knew Ah was a mutant, an' dey were waitin' fo' _moi_. Ah was taken on de orders offa _fils de putain_ named Stryker…"

* * *

><p>Remy sunk back into the couch as he watched his father and brother curse the air blue in a mix of English and French. He had just told the entire story of his capture and stay with Stryker, without telling the name of his cellmate and only telling that they had split up once they had reached safe land. His family wasn't happy. Stryker would be in a lot of trouble once the Thieves would be going after him for hurting and threatening one of their own. He smothered a grin as he imagined the look on Stryker's face if he could realise that he had just made enemies of the two largest Guilds in the world, both of the Thieves and Assassins.<p>

A bang on the table brought an end to the rant of both Jean-Luc and Henri, and they turned to face _Tante_ Mattie, who held a rolling pin in one hand and had the other on her hip, a scowl on her face. "Yo' now bettah stop swearin', chil', b'fore Ah git annoyed. _Alors_, yo' gon' t' sit dere, an' do nothin', or yo' goin' t' plan revenge fo' dis insult?"

Jean-Luc scowled angrily. "Dat _fils de putain_ won' be havin' a save place lef' in de world. We gon after 'im, an' we gon make him suffer. Yo' don' take _une_ of mine, an' don' pay fo' 't. Call the Council, we got plans t' make."

A grin spread itself on Remy's face as he imagined that in the Assassins Guild similar events would be taking place around that same time. He allowed himself to be ushered away by _Tante_ Mattie, first to the kitchen for a truly, good, filling home cooked meal, before she bustled him off to his room, which hadn't changed a bit even in the two years he had been away from home. After a quick shower he snuggled into his bed, delighted by the soft covers and mattress, before a beep from his stolen phone woke him from his daze.

Flipping it open he grinned as he recognized the number. Andrea had already sent him a message. His grin grew wider as he comprehended what she had sent him. Her Guild was up in arms, her father and uncle were out for blood and none of the Assassins dared to go against the Boudreauxs' on this, not that they wanted to. As almost an afterthought she sent him a time and place she would be able to make for their first meeting after seeing their family again.

Right now, life was good.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Deux_ pairs beat yo' _une_ pair, _chère_." Remy smirked smugly through the smoky atmosphere to the other side of the table, where Andrea threw her cards down with a huff of disgust. She sighed, her blue eyes flashing. "Knew Ah shouldn' have play'd poker wit' yo'."

Remy's smirk only became even more smug as he racked in the pile of money on the table, and Andrea stood, stretching a bit before heading to the bar, going for their next round of drinks.

It had been nearly two years since they had escaped from Stryker's tender mercies, and the two of them had been meeting up as often as they could in places where they wouldn't be recognised, and where they would be able to get drinks even without being of legal drinking age. He had been surprised that even outside of their former prison, they could get along really well. They just seemed to click in many ways, and they enjoyed bickering over others. Remy grinned as some other people took up the challenge of playing poker against him. If it weren't for Andrea, he was sure his life would be a lot more boring.

* * *

><p>Andrea smirked coldly as several men shifted away from her as she neared the bar, remembering what she had done to some of their friends who had tried to get fresh with her. Broken bones had been the least of their worries, and that had been even before Remy had found out what they had tried to do. Save to say, they didn't have a dollar left to their name after he got through with them.<p>

She motioned to the bartender, and he slid two glasses of bourbon across the bar to her. The two of them had been there often enough that the man knew their usual drinks, and it hadn't been the first drink of the evening for them.

Heaving a content sigh, Andrea took a sip of her bourbon before turning back to the table where Remy sat. He had apparently already finished with his contesters with poker, and now only one man sat in front of him. Andrea frowned as she studied the man. He was short, solidly built and had a feral air, but what made her nearly spit out her sip of bourbon was the dog tags she spotted around her neck. She had only seen those with the soldiers of Stryker. Her face immediately blanked and she slid the drinks to the bartender, who was watching her with a worried air. The man knew she was an Assassin, and was worried what could make a killer react like that. She gave him a cold smile. "Keep dose drinks save, _hein_? Ah be right back. Jus' need t' get rid o' some trash."

The man nodded, and Andrea slid through the throng of people until she reached the table where Remy sat, then she moved until she stood behind the back of the feral man. She knew Remy had spotted her, but he gave so sign of it. Andrea smirked at him, then tuned in on the conversation at the table.

The feral man spoke first. "Are you Remy LeBeau?"

"Do Ah owe yo' money?" Remy flipped his cards from one hand to the other.

"No."

"Den Remy LeBeau Ah am."

The man leaned on the table, glaring at the Thief. "I'm looking for Stryker, and I heard you know where he set up shop, bub."

Remy stiffened and Andrea moved in. Faster than the man could react she was suddenly at his back and a knife was pressing to his spinal cord out of sight. She smirked coldly as the man stiffened, then slowly looked up. Her smirk became colder. "Ah don' know how stupid yo' are, _homme_, t' come 'ere an' talk 'bout finding Stryker t' us. Yo' one o' his aren' yo', _mon ami_?" She blanked her face as the man looked at her incredulously, dropping her voice to a poisonous hiss. "Did yo' really t'ink we wouldn' see yo' dog tags, _salaud_?"

Then there was a snikt, and Andrea threw herself backwards to escape being gutted by three knives that the man suddenly had in his hands. No, not knives, she realised as she took a closer look, claws. She sneered, and pulled out another knife. "Yo' sell out yo' own now, _chienne_?"

Around them the other drinkers scattered, and Remy rose from his chair kicking the table at the feral man. The man whirled, cutting the table in pieces as another three claws emerged from his other hand. Remy raised an eyebrow at Andrea and she motioned to the door. With a nod, Remy charged some cards, throwing them to their opponent, who was thrown towards the door by the explosion, before he was blown out completely by a gust of wind from Andrea. The two shared an annoyed look, then strode from the bar, Remy pulling out his bo staff from his pocket. The feral man stood in the middle of the street, and Andrea started to circle him as Remy stayed in front of the man. Their opponent grunted. "Why are ya attacking me? I ain't here to fight ya'll."

"Dis Zephyr doesn' have any love fo' traitors to deir own kind, _homme_." Andrea sneered. Remy added to her words. "An' Gambit has no need t' see de inside o' Stryker's place 'gain. Neither has Zephyr."

Andrea spun her knives in her hands, coating them in a sharp layer of wind. "Now, what be de name o' de soon t' be corpse?"

"They call me Wolverine."

With those words Wolverine unsheathed his claws. Andrea grinned and leaped in the air, spinning as she neared the man and lashing out with her knives, extending their reach with the wind as the Wolverine rolled away. She cut him on his back, and Remy swung his bo staff right where the feral man ended up, hitting him in the face, throwing him back to Andrea who planted a knife in his neck. She frowned as she pulled her knife free and backed away from the still body. "Dis is too easy, _cher_. Went down way faster den Ah expected."

"Remy knows, sha." Remy took a cautious step towards the still body on the ground, but then flung himself away as the former corpse exploded into action. Andrea leapt into the air, floating out of reach as Remy perched himself on top of a streetlight. Wolverine roared angrily, and Andrea floated over to Remy, a wry smile on her lips. "Gambit?"

"_Oui_, _chère_?"

"Ah t'ink we made 'im mad."

"Gambit t'ink so too."

"Prob'ly not de most smart plan we made, _mon ami_."

"_Oui_, _chère_."

The two split up as the angry Wolverine cut down the streetlight, sending it to the ground. With a leap and fancy flip, Remy perched himself on the next one. Andrea floated back to the ground, and took out her knives. "C'mon den, _M'sieu_ Claws, let's dance a bit, _non_?"

As the man lunged for her, she started to defend, backing up bit by bit until they managed to move into the alleys of the city, away from the open streets where everybody could see them fighting. She grinned a bit, whirling away from a blow that would surely have gutted her if it would connect. The feral had no idea that he had just entered her territory.

Even without their powers, she and Remy held the upper hand there, after all, they had grown up in the city and knew it like the back of their hands. With a wide smirk she faced him, which confused him for a bit, until she slipped away in the shadows, disappearing from sight. She joined Remy on a rooftop as they looked down on their opponent, who was whirling around angrily, claws held out and sniffing.

"_Merde_." Andrea huffed. "Dat _homme_ be no slouch wit' dose claws o' him. Nearly gutted _moi_ several times."

Remy gave her a grin, then looked back down, just in time to see the feral man locking his eyes on them, then he clawed his way up to the building. Remy gave the place they saw the man last in incredulous look. "Did de _salaud_ jus' sniff us out?"

They quickly sprung apart to avoid the claws as Wolverine vaulted himself over the edge of the roof and landed in-between them. Then the man did something that surprised the other two. He held his hands out to the side and slowly pulled his claws back in.

Remy straightened, shared a look with Andrea, then slowly put away his bo staff after collapsing it. Andrea looked suspiciously at the man, then put away her knives. She stalked around the man to take up a place at Remy's side. The man sighed, then cracked his neck. "I'm not here to fight you kids, or even do anything for Stryker. I just need to find out where he is so I can kill the bastard, and I heard that Remy LeBeau was the only one to ever escape from him."

"Not de only one."

"Huh?"

Remy smirked. "Gambit not be de only one who escaped." He gestured at Andrea. "Dis be Zephyr. Us were cage-buddies at Strykers'. Escaped de _fils de putain_ t'gether."

Andrea smirked too and wriggled her fingers in a wave. "_Bonjour_, _M'sieu_." Then she seated herself on the roof, followed after some deliberation by both Remy and Wolverine. "_Bien_. So, what be yo' name, an' why are yo' lookin' fo' Stryker?"

The man snorted. "The name is James Howlett, but I just go by Wolverine. And I am lookin' for the bastard 'cause I owe him some things. He used me as a lab rat. And who are you, girl? I know the name of the Cajun, but not yours."

"Ah be Andrea Boudreaux, Jimmy."

"Don't call me Jimmy." Wolverine looked disgruntled at the nickname, then he swore. "Ah hell. Boudreaux. Assassins Guild?"

Andrea tensed up, but then the man looked at Remy. "And LeBeau? Thieves Guild?" He smirked, a slow smug one. "What are a Thief and an Assassin doin' out together? What would yar family think, bub?"

Remy swore, and Andrea pulled out one of her guns. "Jus' what are yo' gon' do 'bout 't, _homme_? An' how do yo' know de Guilds?"

"I worked with them before." He smirked again. "And I won't do anything about it, as long as you bring me to the place where Stryker is. And don't even think of shooting me, kid, I'm a healer."

Remy and Andrea glanced at each other, at the smug man in front of them who indeed didn't have wound on him to show from the earlier fight, then back at each other again. Andrea stowed her gun away and Remy sighed.

"_Merde_."

* * *

><p>Once again Andrea swore the air blue as the small plane they were in swerved and dipped dangerously. "<em>Merde<em>, Rems, don' yo' know how t' fly at all? Yo' nearly made _moi_ cough up mah lungs, _cher_!"

Remy just chuckled as Howlett, or Jimmy as Andrea kept calling him, clenched his armrests tighter. "_Désole_, sha. Bu' yo' c'n fly on y' own, _chère_, yo' have nothin' t' worry 'bout."

Andrea just snarled at him in an undecipherable mix of French and English. Wolverine looked as amused as he could with his complexion as chalk white as it was. "Aren't the two of ya friends?"

"Friends?" Andrea snorted. "What makes yo' t'ink dat nonsense. Ah jus' keep him 'round fo' de 'musement."

Remy pouted in the cockpit. "Aw, _chère_, y' know yo' love Remy."

"Love y'? Ha, de imagination o' de _garçon_. Ne'er heard such lies b'fore."

"Dat's what all de _femmes_ say."

The plane fell silent again as Remy concentrated on getting to their destination. As the island came into view, both Remy and Andrea became grim and still. Howlett studied their reactions, then shrugged it off. Andrea threw him a twisted smirk. "We was dere fo' over _deux ans_, Jimmy. An' 't weren' good _ans_, _hein_? Jus' don' like comin' back here. Once yo' off de plane, yo' on y' own, _vous comprendez_?"

The man snorted. "I don't need help from you brats."

"_Non_, yo' jus' needed t' know where t' go in de firs' place. Wit'out us y' wouldn' have found dis place, admit it, _homme_." Remy threw the feral man a smirk. "But don' worry, _mon ami_, we won' tell anyone."

Wolverine grumbled under his breath, but didn't say anything else as Remy sought out a good landing spot and managed to put down the plane without crashing or damaging anything. The feral mutant jumped out quickly as soon as they were on the solid ground and standing still. Andrea jumped out after him and started pointing out several of the landmarks that she remembered, like watchtowers and guard rotations, entrances and windows, while Remy sketched out a quick blueprint of the facility.

"De labs are on de other side o' de building, _homme_, an' de holdin' cells are close by dat. De archive an' offices are more in front, so yo'll come by dem when yo' enter. Now be careful, an' kill de _bâtard_ slowly, _hein_?" Remy quickly pointed out the most important points on his map. "It has been o'er two _ans_ since we be here, so chance is dat dere 'ave been changes made, _ouias_? Jus' keep an eye out."

Wolverine grunted, then cleared his throat as he looked at them. "Thanks. Both of you."

Andrea smirked. "Yo' may be a bit unrefined, Jimmy, bu' in de end y' doin' me an' Gambit a favour here. We wan' t' see y' succeed. _Bonne chance_."

The man gave a curt nod, then loped off towards the distant buildings. Remy sighed heavily. "_Merde_."

"We waitin' fo' him, aren' we?"

"_Ouias_."

"_Bon_."

* * *

><p>Andrea swore as she flew over the destroyed buildings. The compound had been completely gutted after several enormous explosions. Wolverine might not be subtle, but he sure was effective. She quickly went back to the ground as she spotted movement. "Gambit. Movement t' de east o' yo'."<p>

The two of them swiftly moved through the rubble, trying to find the man they had brought there, but as they reached the place where Andrea had spotted the movement, it wasn't the Wolverine. Remy stilled as he spotted the formerly captive mutants moving cautiously through the rubble. Unfortunately they were spotted, and several of them moved in defensive stances. Andrea moved out from the shadows as she spotted one of the people leading the others. "Frost. Got out after all? Did yo' sister's plan work out, _chienne_?"

Frost hissed angrily. "Zephyr." Then as Remy stepped out next to Andrea, she sneered. "And Gambit. You two left us there. Two years."

Andrea sneered back. "Yo' was so convinced y' din' need any help from us, dat yo' sister would take care o' it. We din' wait fo' dat, an' y' can see who is better off, _non_?"

Remy glanced around as the sound of helicopters grew in the distance. "Nice as 't is t' see y'all, we be goin' now. Zephyr, we din' find _M'sieu_ Claws yet."

With a curt nod, Andrea launched herself into the air while drawing a chameleon illusion around her, making her essentially disappear from view. Remy gave the other mutants a two-fingered salute, then melted back into the shadows. Emma Frost snarled for a moment, angry at the two, but still she didn't have a true, good reason to lash out at them. They were right after all, but that didn't mean she liked it. With several vile curses that could curdle milk, she turned away from the direction the two had disappeared in and started leading the other mutants away to freedom.

Remy was the one who found the feral mutant first. The man laid down face first on the ground, completely motionless. Not far from him laid a dead woman with her hand outstretched towards the Wolverine. Then with a gasp, Howlett shot back up, looking around wildly, and he unsheathed his claws as soon as he spotted Remy. Remy frowned. "_M'sieu_ Claws? Din we get pas' dis already?"

The man growled at him, and Andrea dropped down next to Remy, causing the Wolverine to shift into an aggressive stance. She immediately backed up a bit, her hands raised. "Whoa dere, _homme_, keep dose in yo' hands, _hein_? We gotta go, de military is comin' an' we don' wanna get caught." She frowned as Wolverine didn't react at all, just looked at her with distrust… and confusion. "Jimmy?"

"Who are you?" The man growled at them. Remy and Andrea exchanged a confused look, then flinched as the sound of choppers and a few trucks came closer. Remy ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "_Merde_, _homme_, y' don' know us anymo'e? We brought yo' here, on yo' request. Yo' were gon' take care o' Stryker an' his ilk."

"I… don't remember."

"No time fo' dat." Andrea cut in with a look to the air as the first chopper came into sight. "We gotta go now! So, y' comin', Jimmy?"

Wolverine looked at her for a long moment, then shook his head. "Get out of here. I'll find my own way."

Andrea and Remy exchanged another look. "Y' sure, _mon ami_?"

"I ain't your friend, kid. Now git!" He lunged for them with his claws out, and Andrea immediately grabbed Remy around his torso before launching into the air, floating out of reach. She stared at him for a moment, then gave a silent nod and shimmered from view.

The Wolverine snorted, then turned around to look at his surroundings. Destroyed buildings, rubble everywhere and a dead woman just a few feet from him. He gave the dead woman a look, as she seemed to tug somewhere at a memory, but he shrugged it off and ran away, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the military that was closing in.

Remy sighed as he hung in the air, held up with Andrea's arms around his torso. "Din' expect dat, _chère_."

"Neit'er did Ah."

He felt Andrea shrug as she flew them back to their plane, then they quickly loaded themselves in and took off before they could be spotted and shot down. As the island disappeared into the distance, Andrea heaved a deep sigh. "Now, let's jus' hope dat Jimmy really killed Stryker."

Remy swore.


	3. Chapter 3

Just over two years since they burned Stryker's island. Over four years since they escaped from captivity. Six years since they knew each other. Andrea sighed deeply and sagged down further into her chair, a half-empty bottle of bourbon in front of her with a filled glass. It was her third bottle of the evening.

She should have been celebrating. She should have been congratulating her cousin on her luck with snagging the most desired bachelor of New Orleans. But she just couldn't.

Her uncle Marius had just that evening announced the decision he had made with the Patriarch of the Thieves Guild to stop the war between the two Guilds. A marriage. An arranged marriage, between the second born (or adopted as the case was) children of the two Patriarchs. Remy and Belladonna.

She gulped another glass of bourbon down, then filled it back up to the rim, her hand shaking a bit. She should have been happy with the solution, one that would have made it possible for her and Remy to be friends in the open, if it weren't for one small, insignificant fact she had determined just a little while ago but hadn't been able to admit. She liked him, _merde_, if she had to be brutally honest with herself, she could admit that she loved the idiot. And now he was getting married to her cousin. Itty bitty 'Donna. She sneered darkly, gulping down another glass of alcohol and just as swiftly filling it back up. Little perfect Donna always got what she wanted, and now she was bragging all through the Boudreaux Mansion and to her little friends that she had managed to snag the Remy LeBeau, number one ladies man and object of desire, in a marriage. Andrea had managed to get through most of the day, laughing with Belladonna and offering congratulations her when it was asked for, but as soon as she could she got the hell out of the way. The only other person who wasn't happy with the marriage was her cousin Julien, Donna's brother, but Andrea had never liked him, even though he was blood-kin and that feeling was mutual.

Not that anybody would ever know why she had cut and run that evening. Not even Remy would know, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't care. Who would want gangly, plain, weird mutant Andrea when they could have the blonde beauty that was her cousin? No one, that was. No one but a blind man.

She sniffled, then just pulled the bottle to herself and started drinking straight from it. No more pussy-footing around with a glass. She was out there to get rip-roaring drunk, and she would succeed in that. No one would stop her in her self-appointed mission.

The scrape of someone pulling out a chair opposite of her made her look up from her bottle and she squinted as she spotted Remy sitting down at her table. She scowled at him and slurred out her words. "Wha' y' doin' 'ere, engaged boy? Shouldn' y' be home bein' congratulated by _ton famille_?"

Remy simply looked at her, her two empty bottles on the table and the nearly empty bottle in her hand, then frowned. "Why yo' here drinkin' y'self t' an early grave, sha?"

Andrea just sniffled, then turned back to her bottle. "Jus' go 'way, Rems. Go 'way t' yo' beautiful blonde fiancée."

"'Rea? What yo' goin' on 'bout?"

"Like y' don' know." She threw him a drunken glare, then swayed in her chair a moment before she managed to pull herself upright again.

"Y' t'ink Ah want t' get married t' yo' cousin?" He sounded incredulous, and Andrea glared harder at him. She snarled and nearly fell from her chair, but only sagged a bit to the side in the end. "Who wouldn'? She be blonde, an' pretty, an' oh so perfect." She spat the words out bitterly.

Remy narrowed his eyes. "Remy doesn'."

"Really? An' why wouldn' yo'?"

"'Cause she ain't yo'!"

Andrea leaned back as if he had smacked her in the face as she stared at Remy, who dropped his head in his hands and muttered under his breath in French, his words having sobered her quite a bit. "_Désole_, _chère_, Remy din' want t' make y' uncomfortable. Remy jus' be leavin' now." He tried to pull out his chair to stand up and leave, but was pushed back, or rather slammed back, by a very localised gust of wind. Trademark of Zephyr. He raised his head and stared back at Andrea. "_Ce qu'il est_, sha?"

"Y' mean it?"

"_Oui_."

Andrea gave a half-sob, half-laugh as she buried her head in her hands. "_Merde_. Jus' like us t' only confess we like de odder when too late." She grinned wryly at Remy. "Was drowning m'self wit' bourbon t' fo'get y' was gon get married. Donna been prancin' an' boastin' all day. Made _moi_ sick. Julian been cursin' y' name all day too. De bête fil."

Remy returned the wry smile, then leaned forward to snag the abandoned glass and fill it with bourbon. "Den y' c'n use some company, _hein_? Remy feel like drownin' hisself _aussi_."

Andrea leaned towards him, brushing her hands along his as she refilled his glass after he threw it back in one swallow. "Y' always welcome t' join _moi_."

"_Merci_, sha."

* * *

><p>It had taken six months, but the day of the much anticipated wedding was there. Julien had done his best to stop or delay the wedding, but his father was determined to end the war between the Guilds and had ended up sending him on missions for the duration of the engagement.<p>

Remy looked back into the full church, his eyes finding Andrea and giving her a quick pained smile. He didn't want to get married, but there was no way out of the arrangement without it resulting in open war, and he had been pressured to go through with it. Andrea returned his smile, and gave him a nod. She would have his back, no matter what happened.

Remy flinched as Henri elbowed him in his back, and turned to him. "_Quoi_?"

"Why are y' exchanging looks wit' de 'ssassin _femme_ in de back?" Henri threw him a questioning look. "Y' know her den?"

Remy flinched again. _Merde_, his _frère_ just had to notice that now. Well, it's not like anyone could say anything about his friendship with her after this. He gave Henri a sad half-smile. "Dere be a reason why Remy din' want t' marry, _mon frère_."

"_Sacre_." Henri swore softly under his breath, wincing. "'Ow long you been wit' her, _petit_?"

"Remy know her fo' 'bout _six ans_. Only managed t' tell de odder we liked dem 'bout _six mois_ ago." He grinned weakly at his brother. "Was wit' her at Stryker's. Cage-buddies."

"Oh Remy." Henri threw him a sad look, then nodded politely at the _femme_ as she raised an eyebrow. She blanched for a moment, then gave a small, quick smile that disappeared as soon as it appeared back. Henri smiled a bit to himself. For as far as he could see, that _femme_ looked to be a lot better than the daughter of the Assassin Guildmaster for Remy, but it was too late for that now.

Then all contemplations were cut off as the church doors opened and Belladonna strode down the isle on her father's arm, clad in a flowing, but still fluffy, beautiful white dress. Remy forced a smile on his face. He would get through with that disaster of a wedding, even if he would rather have exchanged the blonde for a brunette with the same coloured blue eyes who was sitting in the back of the church. Maybe if he just kept the image of Andrea over Belladonna, it wouldn't be so bad. He threw a glance at the blonde next to him and blanched. No way, wasn't gonna work. Not only was the Assassin at his side not as tall as his friend, but everything about them was exactly the opposite. Remy sighed once, silently. This was going to be hell.

* * *

><p>The service was nearing his end. All that would have to be done now was saying their 'I do's' and kissing. However, before the priest managed to get the fateful words out of his mouth, the doors of the church were thrown open with an almighty crash. A glowering Julien stood in the doorway, gun levelled, and before Remy could do more than shift to the side, the gun went off and a piercing pain called Remy's attention to his shoulder. He looked incredulously at the blood that was slowly soaking his tuxedo as he stumbled back. "De <em>bâtard<em> shot _moi_!"

Immediately it was pandemonium. Julien was sprinting forward, towards the dais, a wicked knife in his hands and a cruel glint in his eyes to go along with it. Jean-Luc was on his feet, snarling angrily to Marius about the breach of the Pact, by Marius' own son. Other Assassins and Thieves tried in vain to get a hold on the enraged Julien, but he managed to slip through their grip and kept coming.

Remy looked around wildly for a weapon he could use while his brother and cousins started to shift to cover him from Julien. They didn't have to bother.

Just before Julien reached the dais, he was thrown back by an invisible source. All arguing grinded to a halt as Julien laid sprawled on the floor. In front of him, cutting him off from his goal of attacking Remy, Andrea shimmered into view. "_Bonjour_, _cousin_."

Julien gaped in surprise, then his face warped in rage. "What do y' t'ink y' are doin', Andrea? Get out o' mah way!" He pulled another knife. "Ah'm gonna kill de filthy T'ief! He ain't gon marry _ma soeur_!"

Andrea just sneered back. "Why don' yo' try, _garçon_? Y' ain't ever been able t' beat _moi_. Yo' not gon do 't now."

"Dat's only 'cause y' a mutie, _cousin_."

That venomous exclamation brought some whispers to life, mostly among the Thieves in the church, even though most had guessed it with her appearing act. Andrea snarled. "Don' need any powers t' deal wit' yo', _salaud_." She quickly dipped her head in apology to the priest for swearing in the church. "_Désole_, _m'sieur_."

The priest just gave her a bewildered nod back.

Julien sneered. "Y' cain't attack _moi_, cousin, not if yo' want t' keep a life when Ah become Patriarch."

Andrea looked at Marius, who was looking ashamed and murderous, then threw a look at Jean-Luc. "Den Ah'll become a T'ief, _non_? _Monsieur_ LeBeau? Yo' have any need fo' new T'ieves?"

The Patriarch of the Thieves Guild merely threw her a smirk, as her own father started making strange chocking sounds in the row behind Marius. All eyes were now on Andrea and Julien. Julien kept trying to edge around her, trying to get a clear shot at Remy, but she didn't let him. Frustrated, Julien snarled at her. "Why do yo' even care, Andy?" He sneered the nickname like it was an insult. Which it actually was to her, but he didn't know that. "Why are yo' defending a filthy T'ief?"

Andrea smirked smugly, knowing her announcement would give most of the people in the church a heart attack. "Dat filthy T'ief as yo' call 'im 's _mon ami_. Has been fo' over _six ans_." Her smirk became even more smug as Julien just gaped at her. "Surprise, _bête fil_."

"_Traître_!" With a howl of rage, Julien jumped at Andrea. Her smug face blanked, and with infinite grace and poise she took him down with a single sweep of her leg and a blow to his head as soon as he entered her personal bubble. She knelt on his back as she pulled out a knife from somewhere on her person.

Remy didn't even want to know where or how she had managed to stash a knife in her dress. He really didn't.

Andrea flipped Julien over, drove her knife in his shoulder, twisted it, then pulled it out. "Dat is payback, _cher_, fo' shootin' _mon ami_. Only Ah c'n do dat."

As her cousin howled again, this time in agony, she knocked him out carelessly by bashing his head against the ground, before turning to Remy. "C'mere, y' coo-yon, b'fore yo' bleed out."

Remy grinned, then moved over to Andrea, who took his good arm and pulled him through a side door and left the church.

Henri looked at his father, who looked both amused and stunned, at Marius, who looked stunned and murderous as he glared at his son, and at Belladonna, who looked to be on the verge of tears. "Well, dat was unexpected."

All hell broke loose.

* * *

><p>Remy grinned happily as he bounced over to Andrea, who was seated at their usual table in their favourite bar. "<em>Chère<em>, yo' never gon guess w'at happened."

"Jus' spit 't out, LeBeau." Andrea grinned back at him, his good mood infectious. Remy swung himself in a chair next to her and placed an arm around her shoulders, his grin growing wider. "De marriage is off de plans. 'Cause Julien broke de Pact, _mon père_ demanded restitution, also 'cause de _salaud_ shot Remy. Belladonna threw a fit, _mais_ Papa din' take _non_ fo' an answer. So, dey working out a different solution now."

Andrea laughed, throwing her arms around his neck. "_C'est __fantastique_, _mon cher_!"

Remy pulled her closer, took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. Andrea reacted enthusiastically, one hand running up to card through his hair while the other pulled his head closer, deepening the kiss even more. They kissed until a cough broke through their little bubble. Remy pulled back reluctantly and smiled sheepishly at Andrea. "An' _mon frère_ demanded dat Remy take 'im t' meet yo'."

Andrea gave him a Look, and Remy flinched, but kept smiling bravely as he turned to introduce his brother. "Henri, dis be Andrea Boudreaux. Also known as Zephyr. 'Rea, dis be _mon frère_, Henri LeBeau."

"Nice t' meet yo'." Andrea nodded at the man. Henri gave her a grin. "Same 'ere. Always good t' see someone c'n keep _mon petit frère_ under control."

With a laugh Andrea gestured to the free chair on the other side of their table. "Sit down, _s'il__ vous __plaît_. De _frère_ o' Remy 's welcome at _mon table_."

"Don' mind _moi_, den." Henri seated himself, smirking, as Remy gestured for the barkeeper to bring them another glass of bourbon. "What are de _deux_ o' yo' gon do now? _C'est __désordre_ out dere since yo' deux announced y' friendship. No bloody chaos, t'ough." He quickly asserted as Andrea looked alarmed.

She sank back in her chair and leaned into Remy. "Dat ain't so bad, _non_? Chaos once in a w'ile 's good fo' de people. Keep 'em on deir toes. Make dem more flexible." She smirked. "Ain't dat right, _mon cher_?"

Remy grinned and nodded in agreement. Henri rubbed his shaved, bald head in exasperation. "Yo' _deux_ were made fo' de odder, I tell y', _petit_. Jus' as crazy as de odder."

The two simply smirked wickedly.

* * *

><p>Remy gulped as he looked into the cold blue eyes, the exact same hue as those of his daughter, of Marcus Boudreaux. The man gave him a wintry smile and held out his hand. "Remy LeBeau? 'M Marcus Boudreaux. Andrea's <em>père<em>."

"Pleasure t' meet y', _M'sieu_." Remy gave him a shaky smile, then the man was elbowed out of the way by a petite Italian woman with long dark hair. "So you are de Gambit, Remy LeBeau, yes?" She gave him a smile, deceptively sweet. "I am Julia Boudreaux, dis lummox's my husband. You are de friend of my daughter?"

Remy gulped again as the two sets of eyes seemed to try and decapitate him. "Uh, _oui_?"

"_Maman_! _Papa_! Leave _mon ami_ alone!" Andrea stalked over in a huff. "Ah knew y' were gon do dis de moment yo' set de cousins on _moi_." She glared angrily, then smirked. "Bettah next time, _non_?"

"_Petite_…" Marcus trailed off as Andrea glowered angrily, then took Remy by the arm and stormed off. She slowed down as she left her parents behind. "_Désole_, _mon cher_, Ah din' know dey be dis annoying."

"Don worry. _Mon __père_ wan's t' meet yo' too. Well, meet y' properly." Remy grinned. "_Mais_ Remy t'inks he be less intimidating den _ton_ _père_."

"_D'accord_." Andrea laughed as she let Remy lead her off.

They were at a mixed Guild party/meeting. Marius and Jean-Luc had thought that it would be a good idea if they would maybe hold small get-togethers to make the people of the two Guilds more at ease with each other. So far it seemed to be working. Most of the older Thieves and Assassins were weary, but willing to get along to stop the bloodshed, and the younger ones were also happy to find new friends or rivals, but now in a friendly atmosphere.

Today was the first day that Remy had run into the parents of Andrea, and he was glad of that. Of course, now he had to repay the favour and he sought Jean-Luc out from the crowd, then pulled Andrea over to him where he stood flanked by Henri, a blonde young woman and a red haired young man. "Papa, dis be Andrea Boudreaux, Remy's _ami_. 'Rea, dis be _mon père_ Jean-Luc LeBeau, de _femme_ 's Mercy LeBeau, she 's de wife o' Henri, yo' know Henri. De red haired _garçon_ be _mon cousin_ Emil Lapin."

"Nice t' meet y' all." Andrea gave them all a small smile. Jean-Luc smirked at her. "Yo' still want t' b'come a T'ief, _Mademoiselle_ Boudreaux?"

"I's jus' Andrea, _M'sieu_, an' _non_, dat 's not necessary, _M'sieur_." Andrea shrugged, then threw a grin at Remy. "B'sides, Ah have Remy fo' stealin'."

"Aw, _ma chère_, don' be like dat." Remy pouted. "Yo' be usin' Remy fo' his skills?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at that. Mercy rolled her eyes, exasperated, and Emil snickered softly.

"_Mais oui_, _cher_, y' don' t'ink Ah'd keep yo' 'round fo' de conversation, do y'?" Andrea smirked wider.

"Y' a cruel, cruel _femme_."

Henri snorted. "Stop playin' de victim, _petit frère_, we know yo' are not one."

Remy pouted some more.

"He jus' don' grow up." Mercy sighed theatrically. "Know what yo' are getting' into wit' dis scoundrel, Andrea."

"Ah'll survive."

Jean-Luc swiped a hand to the side, stopping that conversation. "_Bien_, now t' get a bit mo'e serious. Do de _deux_ o' yo' have any plans?"

Andrea looked at Remy, who shrugged, then nodded. "Ah been talkin' wit' _mon oncle_ 'bout doin' joint Contracts wit' T'ieves. Might be mo'e easy t' complete den, _hein_? An' it'll bring de Guilds t'gether. So, Remy an' Ah been t'inkin' t' b'come one o' dose units."

"Dat was yo' idea?" Jean-Luc looked at her appraisingly, then smiled. "He brought it t' _moi_, an' Ah liked 't, an' de Council liked 't too." His smile became a smirk. "So, yo' _deux_ bettah brush up on y' joint techniques. Y'll be de first t' go out in de field."

Andrea smiled. Remy grinned. Their smiles fell however at the next words of Jean-Luc.

"Don' forget, yo' have t' write de rapports an' debrief fo' both de Guilds now."

They groaned.

Not the paperwork…


	4. Chapter 4

"Gambit, Zephyr. Someone asked specifically fo' de _deux_ o' yo'."

The two in question threw each other a questioning look, but then turned their attention back to the Operations Masters.

It had been four years since the disaster of an arranged wedding, and relations between the two Guilds were at an all time high. Helped along by the strong friendship and later revealed relationship between Remy and Andrea, and by the Joint Contract Solution, the Thieves and Assassins got along quite good, even though sometimes they still had their differences.

The Joint Contract division was headed by both a senior Thief and senior Assassin, who put teams together for operations and took contracts. The only team that always stayed the same was the first one, the team of Gambit and Zephyr. They had become quite infamous, and were never begging for work. Rather, the were begging for rest. However, they enjoyed their work, and got enough free days whenever they wanted. They all could, after all, pick and choose their Contracts.

Remy raised a questioning eyebrow to the Thief Master. "Who dat be den, _homme_?"

"Yo prob'ly heard o' de name. One Magneto."

Andrea snorted, but quickly smothered the sound. "_Désole_. W'at would a terrorist need us fo'?"

"He says dat he be trackin' an anti-mutant group who 'ave taken young mutants t' experiment on, but he lost dem trail. He wants y' _deux_ t' find dem an' help take dem out." The Assassin Master smirked as he saw their murderous looks. "Ah'll tell de Magneto yo' take de Contract den?"

"_Ouias_."

"_D'accord_." The two Masters smirked in unison. "_Bonne chasse_."

* * *

><p>Remy smothered a snort as they approached their client for the Contract. The purple clothes, cape and helmet made him look quite ridiculous, and if it weren't for the fact that he knew what the man could do, he would never have taken him seriously. "Magneto?"<p>

"That is me, yes." The man looked the two of them over shrewdly, and Remy was glad he had 'Rea at his back.

"We be Gambit an' Zephyr. Yo' took out a Contract fo' us."

"That is right." The shrewd look turned disdainful and Remy felt his hackles raise, so to speak. The man snorted. "I expected a more timely arrival. Come, we don't have all day." He turned away with a flourish and strode off, obviously expecting them to follow along like good little minions. Andrea sneered, then disappeared in a gust of wind. Remy smirked.

Magneto was stopped in his place as Andrea suddenly appeared in front of him, a gun already under his chin. She gave him a slow chilling smile. "_Bonjour_, Magneto."

Magneto smirked. "Do you really think to attack me with metal, dear?" His confident face slowly fell however, as he tried to manipulate the gun and got no reaction.

"Yo' really t'ink we would take a Contract wit' yo' as client and take no preventive measures? _Non_, _m'sieu_, none o' our weapons are metal." Her smile slowly disappeared until only a blank face was left. "Les make some t'ings clear, _salaud_. We ain't yo' lackeys an' we ain't followers. Y' are our client. Dat means we don' take orders from y', t'ough we mig't take suggestions. Mind y' manners wit' us, or Ah'll show y' exactly why Zephyr's so infamous, _hein_?"

The cold tone would have been enough to freeze any man, but as she spoke a cold wind also started circling around her, kicking up dust and small stones. Remy laughed softly as he approached Magneto from behind and tapped him on the shoulder with a charged card. "So, _homme_, w'at were y' gon do?"

The older man glared for a moment, then smoothed out his face and bowed his head to both Zephyr and Gambit. "I apologise. I have never before dealt with people from the Guilds. Now, shall we depart? We have quite a bit of land to cover."

Andrea stepped back with a snort, stowing her gun. "_Bien_. 'S 'bout time. We gon find dose _enfants_, an' deal wit' de fools who were _stupide_ enough t' take dem."

"Very well." Magneto gave both of them another nod, and led them off. They did have a job to do.

* * *

><p>It was a few days later that they were somewhere near the Canadian border. Remy had found a trail, and Andrea managed to follow it, with her being the best tracker of the two of them. They had to ask around in cities sometimes, and other times Andrea asked the wind, which Remy still found a bit weird. They had just settled down for the night, Remy had set up a fire, when Magneto looked up an smirked. "There they come."<p>

"Dere come who?"

Andrea also looked up to the air, her eyes unfocusing a bit. "A jet, _mon cher_. Dey bein' followed. 'Nother jet, dey shootin'. De first, 's fallin'. Dead in de water, as dey say." She looked a Magneto. "Allies?"

"They are the X-men."

"Ah asked whet'er dey be allies, not who dey are."

The man smiled. "Yes, is this case they are allies. If I'm not mistaken, some of their charges have also been taken."

"_Bon_." With a decisive nod Andrea leaped in the air, floating just above the trees as she raised her arms and concentrated on the falling high tech jet. She would stop them from squishing themselves. She smirked and the wind howled in answer.

* * *

><p>Storm frantically flipped switches, but the Blackbird didn't react to any of her actions. Just as she was about to call back to the other passengers that they were truly in freefall, her mutant abilities twanged. The wind around the jet howled, but differently. Then, so smoothly she almost didn't feel it, their fall slowed. She gaped and called out to her co-pilot. "Jean, we're slowing! Can you see anything?"<p>

Jean squinted through the window and reached out with her telepathy. "I see someone. They are in the air, and I can't get a lock on their mind."

"A mutant?"

"Well, they are flying under their own power, so I give that a positive." Jean threw her a wry look and Storm grinned back as the jet slowed even more.

With a sudden jerk, their descent stopped completely. There came a scream from the back along with a roar from Logan. "Rogue!"

Jean whirled around to look for the girl with the white-striped hair, but she wasn't in the jet. However, she did see the gob-smacked looks from their team-members as a strange woman suddenly floated in front of the hole in the jet, with Rogue in her arms. The woman, with dark hair, bright blue eyes and dressed in a strange sort of uniform, grinned widely. "Aw, y'all lookin' like y' never seen mutants b'fore."

Jean mentally classified the accent, and therefore the woman, as Cajun, as the woman floated inside the jet and deposited Rogue on one of the seats, quickly buckling her in.

The woman grinned again. "Don' f'rget y' seatbelt next time, _petite_." Then she floated outside and disappeared.

Jean turned back and saw Storm staring outside. "It's Magneto."

Jean mentally swore, taking care to not broadcast. That was just what they needed.

* * *

><p>Andrea grinned as she returned to the ground, reforming herself from the winds next to Remy. "Dey jus' are teenagers. Mutants may be, <em>mais<em> dey ain't any t'reat t' us, _mon_ _cœur_."

Remy grinned back and put his arm around her waist, pulling her into him. "_Bien_."

Magneto put the jet carefully down on the ground and they unloaded, Magneto, Mystique and them forming the welcoming committee. Remy gasped as he spotted one of the last people from the jet. "_Chère_, ain't dat _m'sieu_ Claws?"

"It is, _mon ami_."

Remy grinned widely as the wild man stalked up to them, well, to be correct he stalked up to Magneto, but was waylaid as Remy cheerfully called out to him. "_Bonjour_, _homme_, how yo' been dese _ans_?"

Wolverine changed course, and came to a stop in front of them. He frowned. "I know you two."

"Y' still don' have yo' memories back, Jimmy?" Andrea mock-pouted. "Dat hurt, Jimmy, really, y' cut _moi_ real deep."

The man growled at her. "The name is Logan, kid."

"_Non_, it ain't." Andrea raised an eyebrow. "Yo' told us 't was James Howlett, _mon ami_, Ah jus' made Jimmy of it. It may been nearly 'bout, _six ans_?" She threw a glance at Remy, who shrugged, then she looked back at Logan, who was suddenly interested. "But Ah remember clearly y' told us y' name. Dat was jus' b'fore yo' blackmailed us in bringin' yo' t' Stryker's island."

At the name Stryker, all of the X-men, who had been keeping half an eye on their interaction, were suddenly tense. Wolverine looked angry. "What do you know of Stryker?"

"He be a _salaud_ who kidnapped mutant _enfants_…" Andrea trailed off as she looked at the faces around them, then whirled on Logan. "Yo' were s'pposed t' kill de _bâtard_! Y' told us yo' would kill him! _Merde_, dat be de last time Ah ever listen t' anyone tellin' me dey killed deir target. Should 'ave taken de _bâtard_ out m'self." Her anger at Logan trailed off in French curses and Remy hugged her close, taking his sunglasses off and fixing Logan with a burning red-on-black gaze while Logan looked rather taken back with her reaction. "Yo' bettah tell us ev'ryt'ing, _homme_."

It took a while, but they managed to get the whole story from both the X-men and Magneto. Andrea glared at the metal-manipulator. "Yo' should told us de name from the beginnin', _homme_."

Magneto raised one eyebrow as Remy distanced himself from the group and pulled out a mobile phone. "Why? Would it have made a difference?"

"_Oui_, 't would." Andrea gestured to Remy. "He be cancellin' de Contract. Yo' jus' be payin' fo' de days b'fore dis."

"Are you leaving us?"

"_Non_!" Andrea snarled angrily, pissed off that he would assume such a thing. "Dis jus' made it personal! We 'ave some unfinished business wit' Stryker, _d'accord_? We don' need t' be paid fo' takin' him out o' dis world, permanently. We do dat fo' free."

"What do you mean, taking him out permanently?" The red-headed woman, who had been prodding at their minds before butted in. Logan snorted, then took out a cigar as he eyed Andrea. "She means she'll be killin' him. Assassins' Guild, am I right?"

"_Ouias_, Jimmy. Ah be de Zephyr."

"Don't call me Jimmy." The man sounded disgruntled, before he looked at Remy, who had finished his phone call. "And you, bub? You ain't an Assassin."

"De odder Guild, _m'sieu_ Claws. Gambit be a T'ief."

That threw the feral for a loop. "Since when do your Guilds work together?"

"'Bout _quatre ans_ ago, _mon ami_." Andrea grinned. "There be a failed marriage an' an attempted murder, after dat, we all got along fine."

Wolverine threw his head back and laughed, unnerving the other X-men, who had never really seen him laugh. Also, they were all wary of the two Cajun mutants after Logan blurted out their allegiance. Professional Assassins and Thieves didn't have the most wonderful reputation, after all.

Andrea smirked and turned back to their camp. "So, yo' have an interest in a shot o' bourbon, _mon ami_? Den we c'n try t' fill y' in on w'at we know o' yo' past. An' yo' can fill us in 'bout how y'all found out 'bout Stryker dis time."

"Deal." Wolverine smirked and followed the Cajun as they ambled back to their campsite, chatting amiably about things that the others didn't want to think about.

Magneto turned to Storm after the three left their sight. "Well, you X-men are welcome in our camp. After all, for now we do have the same goal here."

Storm sighed, then rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Yes, I suppose. Although I am still wondering how in the name of the Goddess you thought it would be a good idea to bring along an Assassin and a Thief."

"They are mutants too, aren't they, my dear? Why wouldn't I seek help from professionals to free our captured brothers and sisters?" Magneto gave her a condescending smile. "Besides, do you really think that the Wolverine is such an innocent?"

Storm stayed silent. She didn't have an answer for that, she had already suspected that, with the ease that Logan cut down people and his dog tags. Suddenly a voice came from behind.

"Hey, where is Rogue?"

* * *

><p>Remy smirked as he looked over his shoulder. "Yo' can walk wit' us, if y' want t', <em>petite<em>."

A blushing girl stepped out from behind a tree, twisting her gloved hands together nervously. Logan took one look at her and frowned. "Rogue, what are you doin' here, darlin'?"

"Uhm." Rogue blushed some more, looked up at Andrea for a moment, then looked back at her toes. "Ah wanted ta thank ya, miss. Ya saved mah live."

"A Sout'ern _fille_!" Andrea smiled at the younger girl. "Yo' are welcome, _petite_. Now come, join us, an' tell _moi_ w'ere y' from."

As the girl stepped up, Andrea slapped her forehead. "But w'ere are our manners! Gambit, _mon cher_, we din' introduce ourselves!" She grinned. "_Petite_, Ah be Zephyr, an' de _bête fil_ 'ere 's Gambit. We be from de Big Easy, de most _belle cité_ in de world, N'Awlins."

Now the girl smiled, her blush receding. "Ah'm from Mississipi, jus' a small town. Caldecott. Mah chosen name is Rogue."

"Rogue, hm?" Remy smirked, his eyes playful. "A _beau nom_ fo' a _belle fille_, _hein_?"

Andrea playfully hit him on the shoulder. "Don y' go flirting wit' de _filles_ now, _mon cher_."

"Gambit only has eyes fo' de one _femme_, _ma __chère_."

"_Bien_."

With that they reached the fire Remy and Andrea had started by their sleeping spot, a small piece of plastic spanned as a roof, a plastic sail on the ground and some blankets to roll up in. Remy pulled out a bottle and four glasses, filling each of them up with a generous splash, except for one, which only got a little bit.

"The kid ain't drinkin'." Logan sounded very decided. Andrea smirked and settled down next to the fire, patting a place next to her for Rogue to sit. "_Mon ami_, de _belle_ _fille_ jus' had a near death experience, surely she deserves a bit o' a pick-me-up? B'sides, in de South, we drink earlier."

With a decisive nod, Remy handed the glass with the smallest amount to Rogue. "Jus' sip de drink,_ petite_. Will warm y' up and relax, _ouias_?"

Rogue accepted the glass and carefully sipped from it, pulling a face to the taste first, but she relaxed as she felt the warmth of the drink spreading. "It's nice."

Logan grumbled a bit more, but quieted as Remy pushed his own drink in his hands. "Shut up an' drink, _homme_."

Andrea laughed, then sobered up and sipped from her own drink. "Now dat we are all situated. Jimmy, tell us w'at Stryker did dis time, _s'il vous plaît_."

Logan leaned back on his hands as he started telling all that had happened to them, from the disappearing of Professor Xavier and Scott Summers, the attack on the Mansion to the problems they had with the parents of Bobby Drake. Rogue seemed to wilt a bit as they talked about Drake, and Andrea turned towards her as Remy and Logan shifted to talking about motorcycles as he had told everything about their adventures. She gave the younger girl a small smile. "So, w'at be yo' mutation, _petite_?"

"Uh…" The girl looked nervous, then grimaced, muttering softly. "Ah drain the life-force an' memories of people Ah touch. Ah cain't control it. It's why Ah cover mahself."

"C'n't control 't yet, _petite_. Notice de yet." Andrea gave her a smirk, giving the girl a sideways hug. Rogue looked like she expected them to shift away after learning of her powers, but well, Andrea had always had trouble with being conventional. "De touch-mutations are often more _difficile_ t' control. Y' shoulda seen de difficulty Gambit 'ad de firs' time his mutation showed up. He charge t'ings an' dey go boom. Jus' take de time, _cherie_, don' lose hope, _d'accord_?"

The girl perked up a little and gave a smile. "Yeah. It's jus' that with Bobby…" She grimaced again as she trailed off and Andrea gave her a knowing look. "De _garçon_ bein' a hormonal teenager an' want more dan he c'n get?"

"We kissed, Ah drained him, an' now he is scared of meh."

"Oh."

"He won' touch meh without flinching."

"_Merde_,_ petite_. _Je suis __désole_."

Rogue sniffled a little and curled up in herself. Andrea grimaced lightly, then threw a glance at Remy and Logan, who were in the process of sneaking off after they caught wind of where the conversation was going. She gave them a glare before she turned back to the teen, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Don' y' blame yo'self, _petite_, 'f de boy be actin' like dat, he ain't worth yo' affections, _ouias_? Fo' a relationship, de people in it have t' accept ev'ry part o' each odder, an' from w'at yo' are tellin' _moi_, dat ain't de case wit' yo' Bobby. So y' got t' ask y'self, is he wort' bein' half de person who y' are fo'?"

The girl sniffled again, softly, leaning into the embrace. Andrea gave a sigh, then put a hand on her head. "Les get some sleep, _hein_? T'morrow ev'ryt'ing will look clearer in yo' head."

As she tucked the young mutant in, Andrea swore softly. She didn't know what they were doing in that Mansion, but helping all mutants there control their mutation obviously wasn't that important.

She turned her glare on Remy and Logan as they slunk from the woods. Remy shrugged at her. "Aw, sha, y' wouldn' make us deal wit' de upset _femme_, would y'?"

"Y' can make 't up t' _moi_ by teachin' some o' de exercises yo' used t' gain control t' de _fille_." Andrea softened her glare a bit. "She be havin' a touch-mutation an' dey obviously ain't teachin' her w'at she need."

"_D'accord_."

Logan stared hard at Andrea as Remy prepared the bedding for himself and Andrea, leaving a blanket for Logan. "Ya can teach her control?"

"_Non_, but we c'n try an' help de _fille_ get it."

"Good." He gave a single, determined nod. "She needs that." He gave her a quick smirk. "And thanks for giving her the boy-talk. The Iceboy ain't good for her."

Andrea grinned as she wiggled herself against Remy in a nest of blankets. "Of course, Jimmy, _homme_, Ah wouldn' leave a Sout'ern _fille_ wit' a gutless, witless, yellow-bellied Northern pretty boy. She deserves bettah."

Logan gave her a flat look, earning himself a giggle before he sighed, shook his head and curled up in the remaining blankets.

Females, he would never understand them.


	5. Chapter 5

Remy peered through the window in the jet as they flew at great speed, before he turned to Andrea, who was snickering softly with Rogue over something the girl had showed her. "Sha, we dere yet?"

"_Mon cœur_, Ah told y' 't would take some time." Andrea threw him an exasperated look. "De Wolverine mig't have de idea w'ere t' go, but it ain't near."

Remy pouted, then turned his attention to his deck of cards and started another game of solitaire.  
>They had left camp early in the morning, travelling all together in the Blackbird to the place where they thought Stryker would be. The air in the jet was uncomfortably loaded, Mystique and Magneto ignored all the glares they got from the X-men, and Remy and Andrea pretended to not notice the fact that the other mutants all kept a close eye on the two of them. One of the younger mutants, Rogue's Iceboy, had even protested the fact that they would be joining them on board, exclaiming that they couldn't be trusted and that they would turn on them at the earliest opportunity. That had made Logan turn a baleful eye on the kid, silencing him, and Rogue had glared at him, unleashed a scathing barrage of insults and had shocked all the other X-men with her attitude. Apparently she hadn't showed any spunk before. Andrea had just laughed at it, giving the girl a sideways hug and congratulating her on rediscovering her Southern roots. Remy had snorted, kissed Andrea, then entered the jet, leaving Logan to give Rogue a smirk and proud nod. That had made her beam with happiness.<p>

And now they were nearing their destination. It was in the middle of nowhere somewhere in Canada, near a large dam. Alkali Lake, as they were told it was called. Logan had visited the place before, as something had drawn him there, but then the entire complex had been abandoned. Now however, there were tire-tracks, and Andrea found other signs of passage by humans and machines, such as several helicopters. They scouted out the rest of the place, and found the entrance in a hidden walkway, a huge door that could only be opened from the inside.

As the X-men suited up in the jet, the younger kids, Rogue, the Iceboy and another boy who could manipulate fire named John, started to protest that they wanted to come too. Andrea took Rogue aside shortly and spoke with her. "_Petite_, Ah know y' wan' t' help, but yo' have t' understand dat dis ain't an exercise, _ouias_? In dis situation, dere will be killed, an' yo' aint ready fo' dat yet, _chère_, b'sides we need yo' t' be ready t' get us out if we need de transport. Y' know how t' operate a plane?"

At her negative answer, Andrea got Remy to give her some quick pointers on starting, flying and landing a plane along with the fire-boy, who had drifted over as soon as the Iceboy had started pouting in a corner because he couldn't come. John had pleasantly surprised them when he had seriously agreed when they told him to guard the plane and not let anyone on board who wasn't one of their allies, and to use everything in his abilities to stop them. They had rather expected him to have the same attitude that most of the X-men seemed to have, that humans had to be kept alive no matter what.

When they questioned him about that, he just shrugged and answered. "They attacked my friends and home, they tried to take us away for some probably sinister end and I have friends to keep save here too."

Though when he told them the last bit, he was looking more at Rogue than Bobby, making the two Cajuns smirk and exchange a grin. Aha, they could use that little titbit for some great teasing. Besides, the firey boy was a better match for the Southern spitfire that was Rogue than the goody-goody Iceboy. Really, they couldn't have planned it better themselves.

In the end it was decided that Mystique, in the guise of Wolverine, and Andrea with her own tricks would enter the base first, taking over the control room to open the doors for the rest of them.

The plan went off without a hitch, at least for the first part. Mystique was let in, and Andrea had followed as the doors opened, dissolved within the winds, intangible and invisible. As Mystique started taking out the guards as they realised it wasn't Wolverine, Andrea assembled herself and cut a swath through the soldiers to the control room, taking a seat behind the computers and hacking into the systems. She smirked as she got full access, and activated her comm unit. "Gambit, de doors be opening now. Yo' all ready?"

"_Oui_. Waitin' outside. How be t'ings on yo' end?"

She spared a quick look for Mystique who swung around a pillar to slam her feet in the throat of one soldier, then twirled in the air to break the neck of a second by wrapping her legs around his neck.

"We be doin' fine. Door's open."

"Enterin'. Gon silent."

"_Bien_."

A few moments later the X-men rushed in, headed by Wolverine who quickly stalked over to Andrea, followed by the others. She quickly pulled up different feeds and a blueprint of the base, pointing out the places they would need to go to. "Wolverine an' X-men, here be yo' kids. A few corridors down dere be labs an' odder holdin' area's, best check dem too. Y' Professor appears t' be in dis part o' de base. Magneto, don' know w'at yo want t' do, but look at de feeds an' de blueprint fo' de directions anyway. Gambit an' Ah be goin' after Stryker, _d'accord_?"

"Why?" The red-head, Jean, asked. "Won't you help us?"

Remy snorted and Andrea glared. "Dat be personal. Y' got yo' jobs, we got ours. Best get t' it, _hein_?"

The telepath didn't answer, but kept looking a bit mulish. Andrea heaved a silent sigh, then stood up from the computers and walked over to Remy. "We be goin'. _Au revoir_."

"Good luck, Zephyr, Gambit. And say hi from me." Wolverine gave them a bloodthirsty, rather psychotic grin.

"Will do." With a last nod to Wolverine Andrea hugged Remy close, and the two of them faded out.

* * *

><p>Andrea had a savage grin on her face as she and Remy hunted through the complex. They had noted the most likely places where Stryker would be, and were searching them one by one.<p>

Suddenly Remy dodged to the side in front of her, as a woman pounced at him from the shadows, long metal claws coming from her fingertips. Remy pulled out his bo-staff in response and engaged the woman in battle. Andrea slipped passed them into the large room that the woman had been guarding.

"Zephyr."

Andrea stilled as she spotted her target lounging in a chair. He had two people next to him, two mutants from their looks. Both were males, one tall, with long purple hair and a sword visible over his shoulder, the other was short, green-scaled and had wicked claws on his hands and feet. Stryker smirked smugly as he looked at her.

"I never expected to see you or Gambit again after I couldn't find the two of you after you escaped. How in the world did you manage to stay hidden from my contacts?"

Andrea sneered as the other two mutants started to try and box her in. She pulled out a gun. "Yo' have no idea who y' pissed off by takin' us dose _ans_ ago, do y'?"

"Why don't you enlighten me then?" The man kept his smug and confident face. "I'm sure it will surprise me."

"Sure will." With lightening fast movements Andrea raised her gun and shot the scaled man in the head, which exploded, letting his headless body fall to the ground. She smirked at the suddenly paler Stryker and angered purple-haired man as she stowed the gun away and pulled another. "Exploding ammunition. So nice t' use, 'specially 'f someone had healing powers. Can't heal a head dat's blown apart." Her smirk became smug. "Y' din' know mah name, did yo', Stryker?"

"Why would a mutants name be of any interest to me?"

"B'cause 't woulda helped yo' prevent y' mistake. Let _moi_ introduce m'self. Ah'm Andrea Boudreaux, niece of Marius Boudreaux." She smirked as Stryker started to pale at her last name and relation. Apparently he had heard of the Guilds. Good, that would spare her the time she would otherwise have to use to explain it to him. She decided to nail his situation even more into his head. "Gambit be Remy LeBeau, de son 'f Jean-Luc LeBeau."

She laughed wickedly as Stryker looked nervous. "Ah see y' realise jus' who yo' pissed off wit' y' actions. Bot' de Guilds from N'Awlins, _salaud_, de biggest Guilds 'f de world. An' now, we come fo' revenge."

The purple-haired mutant jumped at her, drawing his sword, and she turned away to avoid being cut in half. She cursed as she spotted Stryker hurrying through a hidden door to escape, and managed to get a quick shot off that hit him in the side before he closed the door and she had to turn all her attention to the sword-wielding man to avoid being decapitated.

* * *

><p>Remy grinned as he whirled out of the reach of the woman, bouncing against the wall to flip over her in the air, swiping at her neck with his staff. The woman twisted away and lashed out again with a wild swipe, one that Remy had no difficulty dodging. His grin widened as he continued dancing around the woman, staying out of her reach and lashing out at her once in a while. His grin diminished however, as he realised that with all the hits he had given her, she should already have been down for the count. With a subtle frown, he flicked a card into his right hand, lit it, and flicked it right in the face of his opponent.<p>

The explosion that followed as the card hit her was very satisfying, but as he watched her wounds heal at an astonishing rate, he sighed. "_Merde_. Jus' Remy's luck t' get de healer."

The woman didn't speak, she just cracked her neck, then attacked again. Remy swore as she lunged with new speed and managed to land a hit on his shoulder before he rolled away. Quickly he collapsed his staff and pulled out his cards. Those were the most useful for the precision detonations and for distance-fighting. His grin returned as the cards lit up with a magenta glow and he whipped them from hand to hand. "C'mon, _femme_, les' get t' it, _hein_?"

* * *

><p>Andrea flipped backwards into a roll before springing to the side as she danced around the room to avoid being chopped up. Her opponent had apparently been angered by her killing his companion, because she hadn't been able to get a clear shot of him, and had been bouncing around the room to stay away from the sharp edge of his sword. It hadn't taken much time to find out his mutation, as his body was able to bend in ways a body wasn't meant to bent and he was abnormally fast. She sighed as she took out two knives, flipping them in her hands before she used them to stop the swords above her head. Her smirk returned as she looked her enemy in the eyes. "So, <em>homme<em>, les' play, _hein_?"

The man gave an inarticulate snarl, and Andrea shook her head as she danced back to avoid the strikes. "So sloppy, _mon ami_."

"Not your friend."

"Ah, _mais_ w'at else would yo' be, _homme_?" She smiled as it was her turn to lash out, and she managed to score thin lines against the arms of the man, before he returned the favour and nearly gutted her. As it was he cut her shirt and scratched her body armour.

"Your enemy. Your executor."

"Y'd have t' be able t' kill me fo' dat, _putain_." Her voice darkened and the purple-haired man blinked in shock as suddenly a knife flashed in front of his chest, not touching him, but still managing to carve a deep cut in it.

"How-"

Another slash opened up, this time closer to his neck.

"What-"

Andrea chuckled ominously. "Really, boy. Ah been able t' keep up wit' y' easily wit'out use o' mah powers. Did y' really t'ink dat Ah wouldn't use dem at all in a fight?"

"Powers-"

She cut him off again. "Or did yo' t'ink dat dey wouldn' be of any use in a fight like dis?"

From his shocked look as she continued to cut him up without touching him, she got that he indeed had thought that her powers were not offensive. An explosion rumbled through the base then, and Andrea smirked. "Time t' close up, _homme_, de Gambit be finishin' up, an' Zephyr won' be behind."

With a giggle she dissolved into the air, reformed behind him and slashed out with her knives coated in a sharp edge of wind. The head rolled through the door as Remy opened it.

"Gambit see y' finished, _ma_ _chère_."

"Dat Ah did. Stryker got out as de lackeys fought. Left t'rough de door. Ah managed t' shoot him in de side, t'ough."

"Time t' hunt den, ain't it?"

"After yo', _mon cher_." Andrea gave a mocking bow as she opened the hidden door, and Remy curtsied to her before he walked in.

"_Merci_."

* * *

><p>Their hunt took them through the entire complex, again, before they managed to catch up to the man as he fumbled around trying to start up a small plane. They had some delays, mostly when they suddenly had the feeling that their head would explode, before it just as suddenly vanished again and the human guards had started crying out. That had stopped also after a while, and their hunt had continued.<p>

The few guards that Stryker had managed to gather fell rather quickly after Andrea put bullets into their heads.

"_Bonjour_, Stryker. Long time no see, _non_?"

Stryker whirled around, gun ready as Remy spoke to him. He wasn't fast enough, however, to avoid the bullet to the hand that made him drop his weapon. Stryker cursed as he cradled the shot-through hand to himself, hunching over as the wound in his side bled still. "Gambit."

"Don' fo'get _moi_, Stryker." Andrea shimmered into view at his side, her gun to his temple.

"Of course, how could I." The man spat his words angrily, bitterly. "So, what's your plan now? Going to get some money for me?"

"Money?" Remy sounded genuinely curious, and he laughed. "_Non_, no money, _m'sieu_ Stryker. Revenge 's w'at we want, an' y' death is de only currency we be acceptin'." He smiled at Andrea. "Yo' turn, _mon amour_."

"_Merci_." Andrea cocked her gun, giving Stryker a single, chilling smile. "De Wolverine says hi. _Au revoir_, Stryker."

The shot echoed surprisingly loud in the valley.

* * *

><p>Logan growled as he led his kids, though he would never tell them he thought of them like that, out of the base complex. It hadn't taken them much time to find all the cells and free the mutant children, and the few adults that had been there. There had been complications in the form of the Professor nearly killing all mutants, then nearly killing all humans, but all had been resolved and they were on their way out.<p>

The dam had started rumbling ominously, and they were all pleasantly surprised as they spotted the jet sitting just a few feet away from them as they crested a hill. The bay was open and John was wildly waving his arms. Logan sighed, then quickened his pace to halt in front of John. "How did you kids get here with the jet, bub?"

John just grinned unrepentantly. "We flew, mister Logan. Gambit and Zephyr gave me and Rogue some pointers, and when we heard that the dam was breaking down, we though it might be a better idea to come to you."

"The jet is in one piece?"

"Yeah."

"Good." That were all the words he wasted on it as he ushered the people inside, Ororo and the rescued Scott rushing to the cockpit to relieve the tense Rogue from the controls. Logan did raise an eyebrow as he spotted the unconscious Bobby propped up in a chair. John, who had followed him in, looked a mix of sheepish and furious. "Bobby was being an ass, so Rogue broke up with him and decked him. He ended up like this. Apparently they've been having some trouble in paradise."

Logan just snorted at that and didn't waste any more words over it. He gave Rogue a look as she entered the bay. "Nice hit, kid."

She blushed.

"All aboard?" Scott shouted backwards, the jet already firing the engines. Logan looked over all the heads, and paused as he realised he missed four. Magneto and Mystique he had expected to disappear, especially after the stunt they pulled, but Gambit and Zephyr weren't there either. He shouted back. "We're missin' two, Cyke!"

"Two people are coming." The Professor cut in before Scott could reply with anything. "They will be here shortly."

Not a minute later Gambit and Zephyr rushed inside the plane and Logan hit the button to close the doors. "We're all in, Cyke!"

With a whine, the plane lift off and hovered in the air. Not a minute too soon, as the dam lost the last of its strength, and collapsed, allowing the water to rush through the valley, crushing everything in its way.

"_Bonjour_, Jimmy."

Logan breathed out once, to get a bit of calm. "The name ain't Jimmy." He turned to Zephyr, taking in her gleeful expression and the smug smirk on Gambit's face, and the scratches and bruises they both had, some blood dotting their clothes. "I take it the two of you succeeded?"

"_Mais_ _oui_, _mon ami_." Gambit's smirk became even more smug. "O' course we be successful. No chance fo' de _salaud_ t' do anyt'ing else."

"We be more professional dan yo', Wolverine." Zephyr cut in. "We don' fail. An' at least we r'member when we do fail, _hein_."

Logan repressed the urge to bash his head against the wall as Zephyr slunk away, leaving him with a grinning Gambit. Really, you don't remember to kill one man, and they never let it rest. He sighed. "So, the two of you got any plans yet?"

"Need t' debrief an' get paid. After dat, well, _ma cherie_ made a friend, 'pparently. We be comin' t' visit." Gambit grinned as Logan looked around, and indeed spotted Zephyr sitting next to Rogue, quietly speaking with her. Rogue was looking a bit fragile, but the more Zephyr said, the more resolute she looked.

Logan suppressed a groan. He would never hear the end of it if he told the two Cajuns to never show their faces again, Rogue would be all hurt and angry. And that was aside of the fact that he actually could stand their company. Well, only one thing to do with that. "We'll be seein' you then. Be careful when travellin'."

Gambit laughed at his look. "_Oui_, _m'sieu_ Claws, we be careful."

"Good." Disgruntled Logan took a seat. Seriously, those kids were going to be the end of him. At least, the end of his reputation. He snorted. Wolverine, babysitter. He could already hear the people laughing.

Ha, that'd be the day.


	6. Chapter 6

Andrea was not in a good mood. In fact, she was pouting rather heavily.

She and Remy had returned to New Orleans after they had left the X-men in New York. The X-men had needed to return to the Professor's Mansion, and the two of them had needed to return to report and debrief. They had given Rogue several meditation exercises she could use to get in contact with her power before leaving, and Andrea had given Rogue her phone number. They had said goodbye to Wolverine, or Logan as he now called himself, and promised him to dig through the information they had taken from Stryker for more clues to his past. After that, they had quickly travelled down to report on their taking down of Stryker. Something that had made both Guilds very happy, and had been reason enough for another large party for both the Guilds. She and Remy had been making plans to return to the Xavier Mansion, when their parents had burned those plans down. They weren't allowed to leave the city for a few weeks. The argument of _les parentes_ had been that they saw so little of their children that they wanted a few weeks with them before they were off to the other side of the country again.

So there Andrea was, having a family breakfast at the Boudreaux Mansion. Her mother threw her an exasperated look as Andrea fidgeted again, before she stilled as her uncle simply glared. "Somew'ere yo' rather be, Andrea?"

"_Désole_, _oncle_. I's jus' dat Ah met dis _petite fille_, from Mississipi, an' Ah kinda took her under _ma aile_." She smirked. "She got lotta potential, be a mutant too, an' no one did anyt'ing 'bout it, din' train her or anyt'ing. Me an' _mon cher_ helped her a bit, an' Ah might have promised t' visit her soon."

Belladonna rolled her eyes, then stomped off huffily. She hadn't forgiven Remy for not marrying her, for not wanting to marry her in the first place, and she had been angry with Andrea for having a successful relationship with Remy ever since. She was really good at keeping a grudge.

Marius glared at his daughter's back, for she had left the table before the end of the meal and without his permission, not something he liked, then smirked at Andrea. "Y' got y'self 'n 'pprentice, _petite_?"

"_Non_, not like dat. De _fille_ ain't got de instict fo' killin'." She grinned. "Might be a good T'ief, t'ough, 'specially wit' her mutation. She c'n absorb people, steal deir memories, life force an' if dey mutant, deir powers."

"Useful mutation dat. Why did de T'ief not take her under his wing?"

"Dat T'ief got a name, _oncle_. An' he be more busy wit' catchin' up wit' de Wolverine, he was dere wit' de X-men."

"Wolverine? Y' know de man?" This time the question came from her own father, and Andrea winced mentally. She hadn't told the _famille_ about the time Wolverine had blackmailed her and Remy. _Merde_. The humiliation… She cleared her throat. "_Ouias_. He persuaded Remy an' me t' bring him t' Stryker's island some _ans_ back. He wanted t' kill de man an' din' know w'ere his base was."

"Y' mean he blackmailed de _deux_ o' yo'?"

"Papa!" Andrea whined. "Don' say 't like dat." She shrugged. "Was b'fore de Guilds got along, an' he kinda knew dat we were Guild. So he told us he wouldn' tell y'all dat we were friends 'f we helped him. Din' do much, he lost his memory an' din' kill Stryker in de end after all."

Her parents were snickering, her mother most of them. "Y' were blackmailed."

"_Maman_!"

* * *

><p>Remy snickered as his brother tried to calm down his wife, without much success. At least, he snickered until Mercy turned her attention on him, making him focus on his breakfast and try to look completely innocent.<p>

"Don' give _moi_ dat look, Remy Etienne LeBeau! If 't weren' fo' yo' job dis time, Henri mighta remembered our anniversary!" Mercy was towering over him, her hands on her hips.

"_Moi_?" Remy sputtered incoherently, making his cousins snicker until Mercy glared at them too. "How is dis _mon_ fault?"

"If yo' weren' off gallivantin' wit' y' girlfriend, he wouldn' have had t' be de Registrant fo' Etienne."

"Gallivantin'?" Remy became indignant. "Remy LeBeau does not gallivant. An' neit'er does Andrea Boudreaux. We was takin' out a _fils de putain_. Y' know, de one who tortured Remy an' odder mutant _enfants_."

Mercy snorted, but did let up on him after that, making Remy let out a very slight relieved breath as he managed to slip away from the kitchen. The clearing of a throat brought him to a halt. He sighed and closed his eyes before he turned around. "_Bonjour_, Papa."

"Remy." Jean-Luc LeBeau raised an eyebrow to the behaviour of his youngest son, then smirked. "Goin' somew'ere, _mon fils_?"

"Uh…" Remy deflated when he couldn't come up with an excuse fast enough, then decided to just tell the truth. "Was goin' t' visit 'Rea."

"I would wait until lunchtime for that, _mon fils_. Ah heard dat Marius wanted more time fo' de _famille_." Jean-Luc smirked wider. "Ah don' t'ink de 'ssassins would take kindly t' yo' showin' up fo' breakfast."

Remy flinched, then sighed dramatically. "Ah well, Remy den best be goin'. Prob'ly be bored t' deat', _mais_ who cares?"

"Bettah den killed by de Guildmaster fo' interrupting his breakfast, _garçon_."

"So true…"

"If y' want somet'ing t' do so badly, Ah might have some work fo' y'."

"Papa, Remy ain't in de mood fo' a heist." Remy shrugged a bit. "Lotta t'ings happened a bit fast."

"Tell me, _fils_." Jean-Luc grinned. "After all, de time a LeBeau ain't in de mood fo' de work he does best, somet'ing 's wrong, _non_?"

Remy grinned. "_Ouias_. Well, Remy an' 'Rea met 'n old _ami_ during de job. Y' might know de name. Wolverine ring any bells?"

"_Merde_! He 'n old _ami_ o' de _deux_ o' yo'? W'en did y' meet de _homme_?" Jean-Luc stared in shock. "He work mostly wit' de Assassins, _mais_ he needed de Guild few times fo' a job."

"Was a few _ans_ back, b'fore de Guilds got along. Needed Remy an' 'Rea t' bring him t' Stryker's place."

"Lemme guess, de _homme_ pissed y' off, an' den blackmailed y' _deux_ t' bring him t' de island anyways."

Remy coughed, embarrassed as his father laughed outright at his reddened cheeks and the fact that he had been blackmailed. "_Oui_. Dat be de case, _ouias_. _Mais_ de _homme_ din' even finish de job, an' he lost his memories. Nearly gutted Remy when he tried t' get him away from de island." Remy pouted at the memory.

"Ah, Remy, _garçon_, don' ever change." Jen-Luc wiped tears of laughter away from his eyes as he got himself under control. "Only yo' would need t' get blackmailed t' bring someone in fo'bidden territory."

"Papa!" Remy whined as his father led him off to his office.

* * *

><p>Rogue had never been a very popular girl. She had been plain, according to the other girls in her town, and had never gotten much attention from boys. Therefore, when Bobby had started paying attention to her and in the end asked her to be his girlfriend, she had been flattered and happy. Even more happy with the fact that he didn't even seem to care about the fact that she was untouchable.<p>

Then Stryker had attacked and things had started to go bad. They had to flee the Mansion, Bobby's brother had ratted them out to the police, they were pursued by soldiers. She and Bobby had kissed, and he was afraid to touch her after that. He flinched when she just tried to touch his covered shoulder. Then they had tried to flee in the Blackbird and had been shot down.

That was when things had started to change slightly for the better. Yeah, she had been blown from the plane after it had suddenly stopped falling, causing her seatbelts to snap from the shock, but she had been saved. Zephyr, the wind-mutant, had caught her and put her back in the plane. She and her companion-partner had known Logan and didn't mind her company. They didn't flinch away from her, even after she told them her mutation. In fact, it had seemed like Zephyr took every opportunity to touch her, ruffling her hair, giving her hugs. It had been a novel experience, and that was before the woman had soothed her fears and given her advice. And hope, hope that it might be possible to control her mutation after all. Besides, it had been nice to hear Southern accents once again, even though the two mutants were Cajun and not from Mississippi like her.

And when they went to fight, they didn't tell the younger ones to stay behind because they were too young, but gave an actual reason for it, a reason she could find herself in, and gave them a new job, one they could do and that would keep them from going mad with worry. Andrea, as Zephyr had told her to call her, had even given her and John some pointers on flying the jet! Bobby could have learned too, but he was too busy sulking that the others hadn't listened to him when he had gone off about the two Cajuns over the fact that they were professional criminals and the fact that she, the shy silent Rogue, had chewed him out. It had been a liberating experience.

It was during the time that the others had gone to fight the soldiers that Bobby had once again exploded about the two Cajuns. He had yelled at Rogue that she couldn't be friends with them, that they were evil and should be locked away forever or killed. He had said a lot more things that had made Rogue very much angry, so she had done the first thing that had come up in her mind, especially with the advice of Andrea about relationships in the back of her head. She broke up with Bobby, then slugged him as hard as she could in the jaw. He had collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, and John had gaped at her, before giving her a thumbs up with a wide grin.

Things had been calm after that, aside from a time when they got the feeling that their heads would explode, but that passed and they went with the jet to gather up their people. Andrea and her partner Gambit, or Remy as he had told her to call him, had been late, but in the end all had come safely back on board and they had taken off back to the Mansion. Remy and Andrea had taken their leave from there, having to report back to their Guilds, but Andrea had given Rogue her phone number, and she had called every two days to hear how things were going.

Rogue smiled to herself, then glared as an irritating voice cut in her thoughts. "Rogue, you can't be serious! They are thieves and assassins, you heard Logan! They aren't worth protecting, they would sooner stab you in the back than fight beside you."

Bobby wouldn't give up. For the past week since they had returned to the Mansion, Bobby had tried to rekindle their relationship, but Rogue wouldn't have any of it. Thankfully John would help her with cutting Bobby off, or pranking him when he became annoying. Ah, there he was.

"Bobby, please remind yourself who actually found the entrance to the base of the soldiers. They helped us get inside, and they weren't the ones who left us. That were Magneto and Mystique. Besides, Logan might have called them thieves and assassins, but he is also the one who is friends with them, remember?" John grinned widely as Bobby scowled, his wind taken from his sails as the other kids around them in the recreation room nodded along with John. They had been having discussions like the last one on and off for the past week. All the other kids and teachers in the Mansion had heard the facts now several times, and most of them were impressed with the two Cajuns, rather than disgusted by their profession. That had been a shock for Bobby, especially once he found some of the little kids playing 'Thieves and Assassins', their new version of mutant tag.

Logan had nearly laughed himself sick when he heard that, scaring an entire class during a danger room session.

* * *

><p>John knew he had always had a temper, an explosive one, which had been explained a bit when his mutation manifested. Sure, his own father tried to kill him as soon as it came out that he was a mutant, but he was special, he told himself. He had looked down on normal people, on flat-scans, and looked up to Magneto for standing up to them. Then he met two Cajun mutants, and found new role-models. Sure, they were criminals, but they had heart. They helped find Stryker for free, and they killed him, something the X-men would never have done. They were powerful mutants, yet they lived together with normal humans, who appreciated them and weren't afraid of them or their talents. It was the first time he had actually seen a mutant with a large family who hadn't hidden that they were mutant and were still accepted. It gave him hope, hope that he might find a family who cared for him too. Well, and the Cajuns had given Rogue her backbone back. He liked that too, a lot.<p>

The Southern girl was hot when she was angry, and John had no intention of making her angry. They had talked a lot together, after she had knocked Bobby into unconsciousness, about their mutations, family and Zephyr and Gambit. Rogue had told him what had happened between her and Bobby, and he had cursed Bobby's name out loud, something that had made her blush. There and then he decided Rogue was also hot when she blushed.

Then when they had returned to the Mansion and the Cajuns had taken off back to the South, he had stayed by Rogue. He had told everyone everything that had happened, at least, the things that he knew off. About how cool the two Cajun mutants had been, how they were friends with Logan, how they had taught him and Rogue how to fly the jet over a small distance, how they had told them it wasn't their age that made them unfit to fight, but only their experience which could be remedied. Okay, he might have been a bit too zealous in painting them in a good picture, and he might have had quite a bit to do with the newest games of the little kids, but he hadn't lied about anything. He knew he had a way with words, he could write rather well if he said so himself, but never before had he used that fact during talking. His story about how Zephyr had caught the jet in mid-air with her powers and saved them all had become one of the favourite bed-time stories of the little kiddies.

Rogue had hugged him when she caught him telling another story, one he had made up, about Gambit beating up bad kidnapping mutants and saving the day. He liked her hugs. He also liked the fact that she had let him join in with her phone-conversation with Zephyr, where the woman had suggested that meditation might also help him with controlling his mutation. Seeing how his fire reacted to his emotions, and how meditation would help with controlling his emotions, it could work. She had ordered, well kind of ordered, him to join Rogue in her meditation sessions. He didn't mind, and it could be his imagination, but he thought that he had heard Gambit snicker in the background when she ordered it. Weird people, those Cajuns. All in all, his time was spend well. He and Rogue got to know each other quite well, which was surprising, considering they had shared a Mansion for over a year and had never had a single, meaningful conversation. But he didn't mind. They were friends now, and never before had he been so glad that he had stayed in the Mansion and with the X-men. After all, he wouldn't have been so close to Rogue if he had left, and neither would he be certain that he would see the Cajuns again. They had spoken on the phone again, now both sides on speakerphone so John and Gambit could join in on the conversation, and the two had first revealed their normal names to John, also giving him permission to call them by those named, then as a surprise, they had revealed that they would be able to come up in a month. Their families had wanted to spend some more time with them before letting them run all over the country again, but in a month they would be at the Mansion.

John couldn't wait to see them again. Hey, what could he say? They were just awesome to him.

* * *

><p>Logan sighed. Sure, it was funny in the beginning, when Bobby was railing against the Cajuns and Rogue and John put him in his place. But now, the fire-starter had even told the kids bed-time stories about the Southern mutants and the two had become something of an anti-hero to them.<p>

Although he would never forget the look on Cyke's face when he spotted kids playing mutant-tag with their team named Assassins or Thieves. He just hoped the hubbub would die down before the two came back up to New York, or it would be hell in the Mansion.

After all, excited kids and their just as excitable heroes in one place? The Mansion wouldn't be standing at the end of the day.


	7. Chapter 7

Andrea grinned widely as she pulled up to the massive metal gates of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Remy at her side on his own motorcycle. "C'mon, _cher_, we been gone long 'nough."

Remy snorted, but still pushed on the button for the intercom. A chirpy voice answered them.

"This is the Xavier Institute, how can we help you?"

"Dis is Gambit an' Zephyr, here t' visit de Wolverine, de Rogue an' de Pyro." Remy grinned as there came a muted squeal from the other side before the girl spoke again. "The gates are opening, just come on through."

"Looks like we be famous an' expected, _chère_." Remy grinned at Andrea, then revved his engine, racing up de driveway to the front doors.

"No fair, _homme_, y' had 'n earlier start." Andrea pouted as she took off her helmet, shaking her hair free. "_Merde_, dese helmets are murder t' _mon_ hair."

Remy laughed at her, hanging his helmet on his bike. "Ain't dat irony, sha?"

Andrea stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, very mature, 'Rea."

The doors opened up as they neared them, Wolverine standing in front of them with his arms crossed. "Took ya long enough, kids."

"Ain't no kids, Jimmy." Andrea frowned at him. Logan smirked back. "As long as ya call me Jimmy, you'll just be kid to me, kid."

Andrea stuck her tongue out at him too.

"Ain't ya a bit old for that, kid?"

"Y' are ne'er t' old t' have fun, _mon ami_."

"Sticking yer tongue out is fun?" Logan gave her a disbelieving look and Andrea crossed her arms, sniffing imperiously. "_Mais oui_, Jimmy."

Remy just laughed and bounded up the stairs. "Aw, _homme_, don' get de _femme_ started. Y' do know she'll take it out on Remy, _non_?"

"That's the plan, bub." Logan smirked smugly, and Andrea just laughed at the two of them as she entered the Mansion. She whistled as she took a good look around. "Don' have any lack o' funds, _hein_, Jimmy?"

Remy smirked.

"Don't even think about it." Logan warned. "Anything goes missin', and the two of ya will be the first people I'll be comin' after."

"Aw, Jimmy." Andrea whined. "Ah'll have y' know Ah ain't a T'ief."

"Yeah, well, then you better keep your boy toy under control, no?"

Remy pouted silently. "All so mean t' Remy."

"_Fermez la bouche, cher_. An' keep walkin'."

Logan laughed.

* * *

><p>Professor Charles Xavier peered curiously at the two mutants that were seated in front of his desk. He had met them briefly during their flight back to the Institute after the whole business with Stryker, but he hadn't talked to them, and hadn't heard anything from their minds. As he looked at them now, he understood why. The male, Gambit as he knew him, had a static shield around his mind, and the female, Zephyr, had firm mental walls. He gave them a genial smile. "Nice to meet the both of you. I am Charles Xavier. Could I have your names?"<p>

Gambit glanced at Zephyr, then answered. "Gambit be Remy LeBeau, jus' Remy fo' y', m'sieu LeBeau 's _mon __père_. Dis be _ma petite amie_, Andrea Boudreaux."

"_Enchanté_, _M'sieu_." Miss Boudreaux gave him a nod. "Jus' call me Andrea."

"Then I insist the both of you call me Charles."

"_Bien_."

Andrea leaned forward. "De Wolverine said we had t' speak wit' yo' 'bout stayin' here fo' a while."

"Yes, that's true." Xavier stapled his fingers in front of his face. "I heard that you might be able to assist Rogue with gaining control of her mutation?"

"_Oui_, Remy has a touch-mutation _aussi_, an' de training Remy did mig't help de petite wit' gainin' control of her own."

A smirk played along the mouth of Andrea as she saw the Professor blink at Remy speaking in third person. She laughed softly. "Y' get used t' it, Charles. Rems been speakin' like dat a long time, an' Ah don' see de need t' change 't."

The Professor just smiled. "It is refreshing, I must say." He smiled wider as a knock sounded. "Ah, your guide is here. Please come in Ororo."

The door opened to show a tall, regal white-haired woman, who gave the two Cajuns in the office a curious look.

"Ororo, this are Remy LeBeau and Andrea Boudreaux from New Orleans, they will be staying with us for some time to visit with friends. Remy, Andrea, this is Ororo Munroe, she is better known as Storm. Ororo, if you could show them to their rooms?"

"Jus' de one room."

Xavier cocked his head at Remy as he interrupted. Remy gave him a grin. "'Rea an' Remy been in a relationship fo' several _ans_, _homme_. We past de time where we sleep apart."

Andrea stifled a smile as the Professor flustered at bit. He cleared his throat. "Yes, well, most of the time we get teenagers here, and they aren't quite mature enough to share rooms in such a manner. That would be the one room, then, Ororo."

"Alright, Professor." The woman smiled serenely as she led Remy and Andrea from the room and through the Mansion. They passed several classrooms that were in use, and some rooms where kids were lounging about. As she took a turn she spoke to Remy. "LeBeau? Are you any relation to Jean-Luc LeBeau?"

"He be _mon_ Papa. _Pourquoi_?"

"He is an old acquaintance of mine. We used to run in the same circles. How is he doing these days?"

"He be de Patriarch now."

Ororo threw him a shrewd look, along with a teasing smirk. "Such an honour then, to be graced with the presence of the Patriarch's son."

"Don' give him a big head, he be only de second son." Andrea smirked at Remy as he gave her a pouting glare.

"So mean, _chère_, y' cruel _femme_."

Andrea laughed and Ororo smiled in amusement. They chattered a bit more about how the Guild was doing and how exactly Ororo had met Jean-Luc until they reached the guest-wing of the Mansion. They stopped at one of the elaborate wooden doors, and Ororo threw it open for them before giving the last instructions. "This will be your room for your stay, please refrain from stealing anything or killing anyone." That last bit got her a sharp glance from Andrea, plus a pout as the sharp glance faded, but she only smiled serenely. "Logan will probably be by later to take you down to the Danger Room. Most classes end at four, dinner is at half past six. I will see you both around."

Remy blinked as the weather witch swept from the room and closed the door behind her, then he grinned at Andrea. "So, _ma cherie_, how 'bout we case dis joint den?"

With a snort Andrea threw her bag in a corner of the room, then smirked back at her partner in several ventures, crime the least of them. "Let's get t' it, _cher_."

* * *

><p>Andrea nearly giggled with excitement as she and Remy slid down the hallways, already having catalogued every defensive measure the Mansion had and both making their own update-plans. They wouldn't have anyone they called friend live with such inadequate defences. After having cased the outside, they had moved on to the inside, mapping all hallways and escape routes out in their head. It hadn't taken much to discover the so called secret basement, and they had a blast sneaking down there without being spotted. It had taken some quick thinking, but in the end they escaped unseen and un-sensed after they were nearly spotted by the red-headed telepath. Now that they knew where everything was, they were looking for their little apprentices, as the teens were called by their family in N'Awlins. The bell for the end of the day rang, and the halls started to flood with mutant-kids, just as they spotted their quarry.<p>

Rogue and John were standing in the hallways, quarrelling quite seriously with another kid, who they recognised as Bobby. Remy smirked at Andrea as he slid behind to kids, so they could hear what their fight was about. He suppressed a sneer as he tuned in to the fight.

"-I don't see why you are so happy those monsters are coming to visit! They are nothing more than filthy criminals, the Professor should be handing them to the government, not offer them room to stay-" Bobby was cut off as Rogue shouted at him.

"An' what would ya call some of the kids here then, Bobby? Some o' them stole an' some even killed to get where they are now, an' Ah don't see ya harpin' on them! Why are ya so obsessed with vilifying some o' the few people Ah cain call friends?"

"Well said, _petite_." Remy smirked as the kids jumped and Rogue even gave a little shriek. "Y'all should work on y' situational awareness. Me an' 'Rea be tellin' de Wolverine, _ouias_?"

"Remy!" Rogue got over her near-heart attack and smiled happily at him. "When did ya get here?"

"Surprise!" Andrea popped up behind the three teens, two of them smiling and one scowling angrily. "Me an' _mon cher_ jus' arrived, got permission t' stay fo' a while from yo' _Professeur_."

Rogue gave another little shriek, but kept smiling as Andrea casually draped an arm over her shoulder, pulling her in a sideways hug. "Good t' see y' again, _petite_. Yo' been practisin'?"

"Yah." Rogue smiled even wider. "An' Ah think Ah'm beginnin' to feel how mah powers are workin'."

"Nice work, _cherie_." Remy gave the girl a pleased look. "'T took Remy a lot longer t' feel his power."

Rogue just blushed and giggled a bit.

The scowling boy stomped off angrily, leaving the four of them in the hallway, with several curious teens staring at them, especially a group of two girls and a boy, who came even closer. Andrea smiled at them, before turning back to Rogue. "Why don' y' introduce y' _amies_, _petite_?"

Rogue waved the three over before starting introductions, starting with a brown-haired girl dressed in pink. "Right, Remy, Andrea, this is Kitty Pryde, also known as Shadowcat."

Kitty waved and bounced.

"That is Jubilation Lee, most call her Jubilee." This was a black-haired Asian girl, dressed in a jacket of eye-blinding yellow and popping gum.

"And last is Piotr Rasputin, also known as Pete or Colossus." Rogue ended those introductions with a large, well-built boy with short dark hair. She then introduced the Cajuns to her friends. "Guys, this are Remy LeBeau and Andrea Boudreaux, also known as Gambit and Zephyr."

Jubilee burst out as soon as Rogue ended the introduction, apparently unable to wait any longer. "Is it true that you two are a Thief and an Assassin? And if it's true, who is what?"

Remy grinned, his demon-eyes glinting eerily. "W'at do y' t'ink, _cherie_?"

"So it's true." Kitty jumped in.

"_Oui_."

"I think you're the Assassin." Jubilee pointed at Remy, who exchanged an amused look with Andrea, who simply laughed in his face. Remy sighed. "Why is 't always dat way?"

"B'cause y' look de part, _mon cher_." Andrea put in, snorting a bit as she calmed down. She grinned to the two girls. "An' dat was de wrong person t' pick, _petite_. Ah am de Assassin here. Family business."

"An' Remy be de T'ief."

"That is… unexpected." Piotr put in his own two cents.

"Ouias, mos' people don' expect women t' be Assassins. I's why Ah have no trouble gettin' in most places unsuspected." Andrea threw him a cold smile. "'S a _stupide_ t'ing t' do _naturellement_."

The kids started to look a bit queasy, so they were all thankful as John clapped his hands. "Okay, topic-change! Who's up for some pre-dinner snacks?"

As they all agreed and went off to the kitchen to raid the cabinets, the two Cajuns stayed behind a bit and exchanged a little grin. "Ah think Ah might like 't here, _mon amour_."

"So does Remy, _mon __cœur_."

* * *

><p>Andrea peered through the thick glass that separated the Danger Room from the viewing room as the students, among who was Rogue, readied themselves for one of the exercises. Then the room shimmered to life and Andrea whistled softly as she took in the life-like look and interactions in the room. "Dat is some nice technology, <em>mon ami<em>. Y' have 't good here."

Logan snorted, then gave her a grin. "Hows about we make this exercise a bit more entertaining?"

"What y' got in mind. Jimmy?"

The Wolverine gave her a wicked smirk, then started talking fast. The plan was for Andrea and Remy to be let into the room, then set up ambushes for the students, engaging them in short battles, just to give them a taste how the real battles could be. It didn't take much time to hammer out a solid plans, and while Andrea was cackling wickedly and changing into her uniform, Logan called up to have Remy sent down. In less than fifteen minutes the two Cajuns were fitted into their uniforms and had their non-lethal (most of the time, anyway) weapons in the hand: their bo-staffs.

In the meantime, the students had run through several situations, and now they were entering their last one. Logan smirked and opened the doors a little, allowing the dissolved Andrea to enter while she took Remy with her. The Wolverine gave a sinister little chuckle, then stopped himself before he could continue. He growled. "Damnit! Those two are rubbin' off on me."

Andrea giggled lightly as she slipped through the smoke and mist that covered the landscape. She and Remy had split up, only a comm. unit to keep in contact with each other which they did with clicks. Her head shot up as three clicks came over her headset, a smirk spreading. Remy had found one of the teams, and they were heading in her direction. She stifled a snicker and slid in her mission-mindset, her face hardening. Those kids wouldn't know what hit them.

Remy kept a safe distance behind the team of kids, who were cautiously picking their way through discarded rubble, trying to keep a sharp eye out through the near impenetrable mist and smoke. He had warned Andrea, and he was sure she already had an ambush set up. There was no way those kids would be able to catch on to that in time, and he had to leave to find the other group. His chuckle went unheard as he slipped away, tracking the other team of mutant-kids. _Dieu_, they were noisy…

* * *

><p>Pyro kept glancing about nervously. It might have been his imagination, but he had the feeling that someone, or something, was watching them. And had been watching them for quite a while. With a sigh he signaled Rogue and Colossus to keep an eye out. A soft whistle was his only warning, giving him just enough time to jump to the side as a piece of metal speared the ground where he just stood. They all stared incredulously at the piece before more whistles had them jumping back. Rogue quickly touched Colossus for a moment, then the both of them changed to metal an started batting away the projectiles that shot at them. Unfortunately, there were too many for them to hit at one time, and more than once they winced in pain as a piece of rubble or metal hit them.<p>

Pyro ducked behind the two made of metal, cursing in his head and looking around wildly. He knew the simulation, and nowhere should there be an ambush like that built in the program. Suddenly the projectiles stopped coming and a chuckle echoed around them, making it impossible to hear where it came from.

"Not so cocky now, hm?"

"The hell-?" Pyro was cut off as out of nowhere, Andrea Boudreaux materialized right in front of him and took a swipe at him with a gleaming staff. No, she wasn't there as Andrea, Pyro realized as he barely dodged another swipe. They were facing Zephyr, powerful mutant and Assassin, at that moment. His team quickly reassembled as Zephyr leaned on her staff with a smirk. "So easy t' catch. Y' bettah keep 'n eye out, _petites_."

Her laugh echoed around them as she just dissolved into thin air. Pyro looked nervously at Rogue. "Rogue, what are the powers of Zephyr?"

"She told meh she controls the wind…"

The three of them pulled closer together as in the distance several explosions sounded. Colossus swore. Rogue paled. "An' that was prob'ly Gambit."

Pyro gulped. Wolverine had let two well-trained mutants loose in the Danger Room with probably express orders to beat them up… They were screwed.

And then they were flying as a gust of wind battered them, throwing them into the air and dumping them back on the ground. Zephyr reappeared in the middle of their huddle, and with several swipes of her staff they were flying again. Pyro groaned mentally. Yep, they were screwed.

* * *

><p>Andrea leaned back into the plush couch, one of the few that scattered the rec room, as she snorted. "<em>Mon ami<em>, Ah don' know w'ere y' went wrong, _mais_ none o' dose kids would last a minute in a real battle, 'specially wit' deir attitude."

"_Oui_, _homme_, dey rather arrogant 'bout deir powers, fo' no good reason." Remy added.

Logan growled as he threw his beer back. "I know. Been tryin' to beat it out of the kids, but ya know teens."

The Cajuns just exchanged looks and shuddered in unison. "_Ouias_."

Logan laughed at their face, then quieted as the kids in front of the television suddenly became eerily quiet and the volume of the television was turned up so everyone could hear what was being said.

"_We are all gathered here today at Worthington Labs for an important announcement…_"


	8. Chapter 8

Rogue swallowed convulsively as she stared at her gloved hands. At her side, Andrea waited patiently for the girl to get her thoughts in order. Finally, after five minutes of silence, she spoke. "Ya know, iffin' it weren't for the fact that Ah met ya an' Remy, an' the way ya helped meh with mah mutation, Ah'd probably be standin' in the line fo' the Cure 'bout right now."

Andrea gave the girl a soft smile, placing her arms around her shoulders, ignoring the small flinch Rogue always had when someone touched her. "_Cherie_, t'ings c'n always chance, _ouias_? Ah believe y' woulda been stronger den dat, dat y' woulda worked fo' control o' yo' own, rather den trust de words o' some scientists. Who knows 'f de Cure even be permanent, hm?"

Rogue heaved a deep sigh, then shook herself. "Ya're right. But still, Ah know what kind of impact this'll have on the mutant community. Ah cain already see Magneto foamin' at the mouth 'bout flat-scans an' mutant-superiority."

A quick bark of laughter drew their attention to the open door of the billiard room, where they had found some solitude after the announcement of the Cure on the television. Logan stood in the open door, smirking widely at Rogue, who blushed a bit as she realised her words about Magneto had been overheard. She raised her head proudly, though still blushing, and sniffed. "What? It's true an' ya know it."

"I ain't disputing ya words, darlin'." Logan stalked into the room, nodding at Andrea as she squeezed Rogue's shoulders a last time and slid from the room. She closed the door behind her and turned to face Remy and Ororo, who were waiting patiently. Ororo raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Oh yo' o' little faith!" Andrea grinned, then shrugged. "De Rogue has no plans t' take de Cure. De fact dat she got as far as she is now wit' de trainin' gave hope. De _fille_ would rather want control o' her own den some drug."

Ororo sighed heavily, slumping a bit. "I am relieved. Whether Rogue knows it or not, she is someone to emulate for the younger children and others who have difficulties with their mutation. Maybe they would go get this so called cure otherwise, but if they see that Rogue won't go, even though she has such a hard time, then they will think several times before going."

"Huh, din' know dat."

Ororo gave a faint smile. "Yes, well, I'll be going to meet the Professor and the other teachers. We need to make a decision what we're going to do about this."

"_D__'__accord_."

* * *

><p>The office of Xavier was silent as the adults of the Institute stood around in contemplation. Finally Xavier broke the silence. "From what Hank has told us, the source of the Cure appears to be a young boy named Jimmy. He had the ability to shut off the mutations of those who come within a certain distance of him. They have extracted his DNA and used that to engineer the so called medicine for mutants."<p>

Remy and Andrea exchanged a worried look before Remy stepped forward. "As y'all know w'at 'Rea an' Remy do, y' understand we have many sources. We heard noises 'bout de fact dat de Cure appears t' have been turned inta a weapon. De Magneto ambushed a criminal transport which housed de Mystique, an' de femme was shot by de guards wit' a dart loaded wit' de Cure. Dis worried many in de Underground. We been usin' our influence t' try an' calm dem, _mais_ still many will join de buckethead."

"They weaponised it?" Logan looked murderous.

"_Oui_." Remy shrugged. "Don' know who gave de orders, _mais_ someone high up gave 'em. De _famille_ 's lookin' inta 't."

"Bot' de _familles_." Andrea added. "_Ma__famille_ ain't happy wit' dis decision. We ain't de only mutants in de Guilds."

Wolverine nodded at the both of them even as some of the others looked a bit uncomfortable with the thought of mutants in crime families. Xavier sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I fear that Magneto has begun gathering an army, and I suspect that he will want to take out the source of the Cure, to prevent all others to ever make something like that again."

The younger mutants frowned as they didn't get the clue, but Andrea simply rolled her eyes and enlightened them, even as the older mutants had dark looks on their face. "De magnet-man wan's t' kill de _p__'__tit__garçon_ who be de source o' de Cure. Prob'ly has de t'ought dat de sacrifice o' one t' safe many 's an acceptable loss."

This brought more expressions of anger.

Remy sighed as he leaned against the wall, looking at the people gathered in the office. Andrea leaned into him, her arm slipping around him under his duster. He gave her a quick smile just as his phone went off. "_Merde_."

Andrea smirked at him as she plucked the device from his pocket and flipped it open. "_Bonjour_, dis Zephyr." She paused. "_Oui_. _Non_. He next t' Zephyr. _Un__moment_. _Ouias_, Patriarch LeBeau." Her face contorted in a frown, then she flipped the phone to Remy, just as her own began ringing. "Papa?"

The rest of the office watched with thinly disguised curiosity as the two Cajuns muttered conformations and denials over the phone, then both snapped them shut at the same time. Andrea spoke first. "Magneto be havin' rallies fo' mutants. Gatherin' many o' dem who would fight t' kill de source o' de Cure an' de maker o' it."

"De Cure made on de Alcatraz Island, dat also where de garçon 's kept." Remy added. "De Guild inserted some infiltrators in de army 'f buckethead."

Andrea spoke again. "Magneto tried t' hire de Guild, he failed. We ain't lackeys, an' dat how he treated us. We professionals." She tossed her head proudly.

Their eyes bounced back to Remy as he spoke again. "De mutants be angry, an' afraid. Many o' dem ain't got pleasant experiences wit' de government, dey won' trust anyt'ing dat comes from it, no matter how pleasantly dey bring it."

"We understand dem, _mais_ dey take 't a few steps further."

"Dey won' take _non_ fo' 'n answer, dere won' be any reasoning wit' dem. Formin' 'n army 's in deir eyes only a logical step seeing how de Cure 's bein' used as a weapon."

"In deir eyes, de X-men be jus' as bad as de government. Y' are wit' dem or against, an' y'all ain't wit' dem. Dere is no middle ground."

It was almost as if the people in the office were following a tennis match as their eyes bounced from Remy to Andrea as the two explained all that their contacts had found and heard so far. Xavier started looking more and more tired the further they progressed, and he heaved a deep sigh as the two Cajuns wound down from telling their information and their insight into how the mutants would be reacting and thinking right now. He steepled his fingers and looked over them, taking in his X-men and their two guests. "We will have to make a plan to protect the Alcatraz Lab, we can't let them hurt the little boy. Still, we will have to try and reason with them, they can still decide to stop the path they are walking."

Andrea rolled her eyes in exasperation. It seemed like their information hadn't been drilled in enough. "Dat won' work, Charles. Dis is war. Dey won' see y' as fellow mutants, y'all will be deir enemy, and dey won' have any problem wit' comin' here an' killin' all de kids. Dey are, after all, traitors t' deir kind in de eyes o' dose mutants." Her eyes bored into him, willing him to understand the severity of the threat. "Dere is no reasoning wit' dem anymore, _Professeur_."

Wolverine growled in agreement, and then snorted. "And it isn't as if ya could ever reason with Magneto in the first place. The man is a driven maniac."

Remy snorted in response, then curled his arm around Andrea's waist, turning to leave the room. "Y'all c'n keep t' y' plans, 'Rea an' _moi_ gonna get food now. Missed lunch 'cause dis."

Andrea smirked in his side as they left the room, leaving behind some baffled looks and a few grins.

* * *

><p>Andrea gave a tired sigh as Rogue snuggled into her on the couch, watching the news. More reports came in from all over the country that clinics that distributed the Cure were being attacked, either by mutants or prejudiced humans. Magneto had even sent a video to the television to explain his 'war' to the people all over the country. The people were beginning to get afraid, both of mutants and of the anti-mutant groups, who all attacked clinics without hesitation, not caring if people were caught in the crossfire.<p>

Remy rushed into the room, throwing himself at the feet of Andrea, snuggling into her knees and hugging her legs to him. "Save me, _ma__chère_!"

"_Quoi_?"

He shuddered, looking furtively around, making Rogue giggle. "De _petites_, dey don' leave _moi_ alone! Remy swears, _cherie_, he don' know what he did t' dem fo' dem t' chase him like dis."

Rogue burst into laughter, catching the attention of the two Cajuns. Remy threw her a questioning glance, making her laugh even harder. It took her a while to calm down, but when she managed it, she snorted her explanation out. "That would be John's fault, Remy. He kinda started tellin' stories 'bout the two o' ya, an' the kids decided y'all are the greatest thing since sliced bread."

"Stories 'bout us?"

"Dey t'ink we're great?"

The two exclamations left Rogue once again in helpless laughter, and the two Cajuns shrugged, exchanging baffled looks. Again it took Rogue a while to calm down, but once she did she told them about the fact that John had made up stories and told those and real ones about them as bed-time stories for the younger mutants, leading to the worship of them by the kids. Remy looked absolutely baffled. "Les' get dis straig't, de _enfants_ look up t' us 'cause Johnny-boy tol' dem 'bout how 'Rea caught de plane in mid-air, de fact dat we helped save dem from Stryker an' 'cause he made up stories t' paint us in a good light. An' now we're deir new heroes."

"Yup!"

"Huh. Dat's new."

Andrea snorted, then broke out in laughter. "Jus' wait 'till we tell de _famille_. Dey be in pieces from laughter." She suddenly stopped laughing with a look of horror on her face. "On second t'ought, don' tell anyt'ing t' de _famille_."

Remy shuddered in unison with her and Rogue threw them a strange look, before shrugging it off. She grinned widely. "So, Remy, the kids won't leave ya alone?"

He threw her the stink eye, before sniffing. "_Oui_, dey be chasin' Remy all o'er de place."

"Did it ever occur to ya that they just mighta wanted to play with ya?"

"_Non_." Remy looked slightly embarrassed by that confession, but as the door of the rec room slammed open to admit a few of the younger mutants, he just gave a squeak and dove behind the couch out of sight.

One of the kids, a little Scottish girl Andrea recognised as being called Rahne, shyly stepped forwards, keeping her eyes down. "Miss Andrea? Would ye play with us?"

Rogue snickered as Andrea looked at her weirdly, before the Assassin straightened up. "Sure, _petite_. W'at you be playin'?"

The kid beamed happily. "We wanted to play 'Thieves and Assassins'."

There came some chocked laughter from behind the couch as Andrea blinked in surprise, before she grinned widely. "_D__'__accord_, Ah'll play, _mais_ only if Ah c'n be one o' de Assassins."

The horde of kids cheered and filed out of the rec room, Andrea following them with a last grin and wink to Rogue, who broke up in laughter. As soon as the doors closed behind them, Remy bounced back over the couch, dropping down with a slouch and a grin. "So, w'at else do y' kids do here?"

* * *

><p>Andrea straightened up from a crouch as she spotted the black, sleek car make it's way through the gates and up to the doors. Everything, from the colour to the look of it, simply screamed government.<p>

"Miss Andrea?"

She looked down to see Rahne, who was looking a bit worried. Giving her a quick smile, she pushed the kid behind her. "Get de odders an' go inside, _p__'__tite_, we don' know who be comin'."

With a nod, the little girl scurried off, gathering the others then disappeared back into the mansion. Andrea stalked over to the front doors, where the car just drew up. She stood by the steps as the door of the car opened, and a huge, blue furred man-being stepped out. Andrea blinked a bit in surprise, but still kept her grip on a gun inside her coat. "Who be yo'?"

The man-beast blinked at her, then the mansion doors opened and Xavier rolled up, Logan at his shoulder. "Calm down, miss Boudreaux, this is an old friend of mine. I told you about him, this is Dr. Henry McCoy. He is the head of the department of Mutant Affairs."

"Not anymore." The man-beast had a surprisingly friendly rumble for his frightening countenance. "I resigned after it came out they made weapons with the Cure. I wasn't informed about it or asked about it, so I was of the opinion that they weren't worth wasting more time on."

"Y' only now found out?" Andrea snorted at him, and took her hand from under her coat, gripping her gun. Dr. McCoy gave her an alarmed look and Logan sighed, but she went on. "Even we knew offa dis b'fore long, how woulda we know wet'er y' be tellin' de truth, hm?"

Xavier only sighed. "Miss Boudreaux…"

"Andrea."

He smiled. "Andrea, I have known Hank for a long time, and I believe him if he says he didn't know. Besides, it wouldn't do him any good to support anti-mutant groups. He is, after all, not inconspicuous and rather recognisable."

Andrea snorted again, but put her gun away. Dr. McCoy shook himself, then offered Andrea a toothy grin. "Well, miss, I am Henry McCoy, but most call me either Hank or Beast."

"Andrea Boudreaux. Also known as Zephyr." She gestured to Logan. "Y' met de Wolverine before?"

"No, I did not have that pleasure."

Logan snorted. "Wolverine, also known as James Logan Howlett. I go by Logan these days."

"Yes, I heard you're quite the animal." McCoy gave a toothy grin. Andrea scoffed derisively. "Pot. Kettle. Ah'll be goin' now, de _enfants_ be waitin'."

The men stared as she disappeared in a gust of wind. Hank shook his head. "Zephyr, old friend? Do you know who you have let into your home?"

Logan chuckled. "I worked with the Guilds before, bub. Besides, Gambit is here too."

McCoy looked alarmed. "How in the world did you get mixed up with the Guilds, Charles?"

"That would be a long story, Hank. Let's get up to my office and I'll tell you all about our latest adventure." The Professor chuckled and turned around, leading the other two men up to his office.

* * *

><p>Remy grinned as he stalked through the mansion. It had taken some whining from the kids and one sultry look from Andrea before he had also given in to play with the little ones. They were playing hide-and-seek, or their new name for it, Thief-and-treasure. Sometimes they even named it Assassin-and-bad guy, but that was only after there had been some more reports about attacks. Right now Remy was the Thief, and he was searching for the different treasures. He could hear muffled excited giggling on his right and this led him to a cupboard, from which he extracted a little boy, Jamie, who he flung over his shoulder and brought him to the base, where the other kids were sitting. The only one who hadn't been caught yet was Andrea, and he had no idea where she could be. As he came back to the base, all the kids were giggling and trying to hide their gleeful expressions, causing him to turn his attention to his empathy, and as soon as he did, he felt like hitting himself. Aside from the gleeful and happy emotions from the kids in front of him and on his shoulder, he felt glee and smugness from above him. With a sigh he let Jamie down next to the other kids and looked up, where Andrea had anchored herself to the ceiling of the hallway. "Y' were up dere de whole time, <em>non<em>, _chère_?"

Andrea giggled and floated down, to the exited laughs of the kids. "_Mais_ _oui_, _cher_. Y' were de one who taught _moi_ dat hidin' in plain sight 's de best way o' hidin' after all. Ah can't believe y' din' t'ink o' it."

With a snort Remy caught Andrea while she was still in mid-air, throwing her over his shoulder to the delighted laughs of the children. He turned around and pointed one finger towards the kitchen as he marched off. "Les' get t' de kitchen, _p__'__tites_, it be time fo' ice cream!"

The kids cheered and raced off in front of him, while Remy shifted Andrea so she was held in a fireman carry over his shoulders. They quickly ended up in the kitchen, distributing small ice creams and shooing the children off to play outside. As they shooed the last kid outside, Remy turned his attention on Andrea with a mischievous smirk. "So, y' promised _moi_ somet'ing, _chère_."

After they chased around the kitchen island, Remy finally managed to corner a giggling Andrea and was leaning in to claim his reward for playing with the kids when the door flew open. Logan stormed inside, a thunderous expression on his face. Andrea got one look at his face, then let her head fall back to thud against the wall. "T'ings escalated, _homme_?"

"Yeah." Logan growled as Remy reluctantly released Andrea from his arms and the two of them followed the feral to the Professors' office. "One of the anti-mutant groups, named Friends of Humanity, attacked a homeless shelter for both humans and mutants. All were killed. Magneto reacted by destroyin' a hospital that had refused to treat mutants. He has gathered an army, and for as far as Xavier can gather, they'll be soon headin' to San Francisco."

As if on cue, Remy's phone began to ring, and he quickly picked it up, only listening to the rapid speaking from the other side. As he flipped it closed, his face was blank. "Dat was Henri. Dey got news from de infiltrators." He looked directly at Logan. "We bettah go t' de _Professeur_, dis is a confirmation. De mutant-army 's formed an' ready, an' dey headed fo' Alcatraz."


	9. Chapter 9

The office was silent as all mutants stood around, looking grim. Remy was the first to break the silence that had fallen after he had delivered the news the Guild had gotten from their spies. "So, Remy guesses dat y' already was countin' on dis, so w'at be de plan, _mon_ _ami_?"

Xavier gave him a swift smile before he became more solemn. "We will head towards San Francisco too. We can't let them kill the little boy, and we also can't let the humans fight alone against a mutant-army."

"Don' fo'get t' leave some people here, t' protect de _petites_." Andrea added. "Y' never know 'f de buckethead won' send some of his soldiers over here t' take out more o' his enemies."

A nod was her answer and she smiled, leaning back into Remy as he wrapped her in his arms. They watched as the Professor discussed the pro's and cons with his people to form the teams, and in the end they hashed it out. The defenders of Alcatraz would be Storm, Cyclops, Jean, Beast and Logan from the older generation. From the younger X-men, Shadowcat, Colossus, Pyro, Rogue and Iceman would join them. Also joining them would be Warren Worthington the Third, or Angel, as he called himself, who had arrived at the Mansion some time earlier. The Cajuns hadn't met him properly yet, having been busy with playing around with the kids and trying to keep the mood positive and happy, even with all the bad news that was coming in. The protection of the younger ones would be handled mostly by Jubilee and Nightcrawler, with help of several others. They would hole up in the Danger Room with food, blankets and entertainment, seeing how that room was the most secure place in the Mansion. At last, Xavier turned to their Southern guests, but he was cut off before he even could speak by Remy. "Don' say anyt'ing, Charles. We be comin' wit' y'all. De buckethead 's doin' dis all wrong, an' we won' let de li'l _garçon_ be killed. B'sides, we won' let de Wolverine fight alone again. What 'f he looses his memory again, _ouias_?"

Logan glared angrily as Andrea snickered softly in Remy's shoulder, who shot the feral mutant a smug grin. The gesture he got back was not one meant for company and Remy grinned wider as Xavier cleared his throat and threw a disapproving look at the Wolverine.

"Now is not the time for this." Ororo came once again forward as the peacekeeper. "Everyone, please gather your things and be on standby. We will be leaving shortly."

A chorus of affirmatives came back and they all filed out of the office, off to do their own thing.

* * *

><p>The mood in the Mansion was tense as all inhabitants went on their way to prepare for the fight. The little ones were placing mattresses and blankets in the Danger Room, while those who would stay behind with them were gathering food and drinks. Meanwhile, those who would fight were running through last minute trainings and going over plans and strategy.<p>

Andrea and Remy were almost constantly calling their family, friends and acquaintances for more information and to hear whether they had joined Magneto or not. It turned out that almost none of the mutants in the Underground had joined Magneto. They found his methods too crude and weren't fond of following orders, so most of the army was build up from mutants that had probably little training and no combat experience.

This came as good news for the X-men (and allies), seeing how they would already be outnumbered they could use every bit of luck they could get.

Remy sighed as he got off the phone with his father, having gotten last minute orders to fulfil. Next to him, Andrea gave him a sardonic look, having heard the conversation that had taken place. "Take de Cure?"

"_Oui_." Remy sighed tiredly. "As if Remy hadn' enough t' do yet in de battle."

"Ah'll make sure y' get de opportunity, _cher_."

"_Merci_, sha."

"'S okay. _Mon__oncle_ tol' _moi_ dat he wasn' interested in de t'ing, _mais_ 'f y' needed help Ah shouldn' hesitate." She grinned. "So Ah won' get inta trouble."

"_Bien_."

Jamie skidded around a corner then, nearly slamming into the two Cajuns. He grinned for a moment, before sobering up. "Miss Andrea, Mister Remy, the Professor is asking for you two. He said it was time?"

"Y' sure, _petit_?"

"Yeah." The boy nodded seriously, something that made Andrea grin and ruffle his hair before they nodded at him and ran off, Remy calling over his shoulder as he went. "Jamie, gat'er de odder _petites_ an' head fo' de Danger Room."

Jamie's playful salute was nearly missed as they rounded the corner and shot off to their room. In a few minutes they were armed to the teeth and dressed in Guild colours, bounding off towards the Professors office. The door opened for them before they reached it, and they came to a halt in the room which was filled from side to side with the X-men in their tight leather uniforms.

"The children are all in the Danger Room. Gambit, Zephyr, Jamie asked to tell you that he did as you asked and he wonders if you will teach him a card trick when we return." The Professor twinkled a bit as Andrea smiled sheepishly and Remy grinned. He quickly became serious. "The time has come. Magneto is en route to San Francisco, the army is already on the move but they are encountering quite a lot of resistance." The telepath sighed, then wheeled from his office. "Let's go."

The walk down to the hangar of the Blackbird was silent, most of the X-men feeling the pressure of the moment. Only the two Cajuns were softly joking with each other, Logan snorting once in a while as he overheard some of their murmurs. In no time they were all in the jet and lifting off, towards war.

* * *

><p>Andrea sighed as she stared at the sight of the Golden Gate Bridge diverting it's path to reach the Alcatraz Island. "Subtle de <em>homme<em> is not, _hein_?"

Some snickers were heard through the jet, but most of the X-men stayed silent, preferring to concentrate on the battle ahead. The Assassin rolled her eyes as she took in the tense faces of most of the mutants around her. Remy was napping in his seat next to her, but the two of them were the only ones relaxed enough to do so. The Blackbird soared through the air to the island, landing on top of the labs. The Professor gave everyone one last look, then the X-men filed out of the jet and jumped down in front of the few human soldiers who were cowering in front of the mutant army.

Andrea gave a delighted laugh as she took in the gathered mutants in the army, all looking angry and ready for some violence. In the background she heard Storm tell the humans to get in the buildings, out of the line of fire, telling them they were the X-men. A quick look over the front line of the army, then she turned to Remy, who nodded to her. Andrea laughed again, then stepped out from the line formed by the X-men, ignoring Logan's angry hiss. She looked at the army, smirked, then called out, pulling on the winds to make her voice carry. "_Bonsoir_, _mes_ _amis_. From de Sout' came de wind, de Sout'ern winds carrying de warmth an' de strength o' de _famille_. Come back home."

The X-men threw her confused glances, but then several people came from the mutant-army and crossed the no-man's-land in-between, stopping in front of Andrea. The five men and three women smirked at her, then spoke in unison. "So the winds carry them home, the Sout'ern winds."

Without another word Andrea stepped aside and the people filed past her to stand beside Remy, who grinned and shook several hands. It was as Andrea laughed and turned back to the line that the shock wore off and the mutants in the army started shouting angrily at the ones who had deserted them. Logan smirked at Remy. "Your people, Gambit?"

"_Oui_." Remy smirked, then waved at the new mutants. "Wolverine, meet Frenzy, Arclight, Sage, Riptide, Harpoon, Scalphunter, Scrambler and Sunfire."

The eight smirked at the feral mutant, Sunfire even bowing, then turned their attention to the advancing army, which had decided to stop standing around and to get to the fighting. Andrea laughed in delight, then pulled out two long knives. "Time t' get t' work, people! De time has come t' show dose fools dat we ain't so easily overcome."

Zephyr threw her head back and the wind increased, howling as it started to blow some people back. Dark clouds started to gather as Storm activated her powers, and then the temperature increased as Pyro fired up. With a holler the army attacked and Gambit smirked. "No mercy."

Their spies hooted and pulled their own weapons. They were ready.

* * *

><p>Spin.<p>

Duck.

Backflip.

Let the wind carry her further than het opponent would expect.

Slash.

And move to the next.

Andrea wove through the attacking mutants, the battle so confusing that the only thing that made them able to separate friend from foe was the colours they wore. The X-men dressed in their leathers, and the Guild mutants dressed in their Guild colours. There was a gap in-between the fights, and with a flip through the air Zephyr managed to get to breathing space, and the opportunity to look around how they were faring.

The X-men and their allies had managed to hold the line. It seemed like the army wasn't trained in team tactics at all, and they were easily picked off as they rushed the defensive line, with no mind for dodging or ducking. Andrea snorted as she watched her team tear through their opponents. Those mutants were nothing more than civilians, people who thought that just because they had a power, they could also fight.

Yeah, fat chance of that.

With a skip, Andrea shot in the air, floating just above the writhing mass of bodies, searching for one person in particular. Then, as a flash of magenta came, she floated down to hover over him, drawing a gun and shooting several opponents down. Remy grinned as he spotted her, then held up a hand. "Gimme a lift, _chere_."

"Sure, _cher_."

With a dive and a heave, Andrea had her arms around Remy's torso, pulling him with her into the air so he could have a look over. Remy snorted as he took the battle in. He pointed to the bridge. "See dere, Zephyr? De buckethead ain't fightin' wit' his men an' women. De man 's keepin' out o' de fights. D'ya know de people on his side?"

"_Non_. Maybe de Wolverine knows?"

"Les' ask de man, _hein_?"

Andrea chuckled and flew over to where Logan was cutting down mutants, while Remy threw cards from his vantage point in the air. The two of them landed on either side of the feral mutant, taking down two of his opponents and nearly being skewered by the man himself. He growled. "What are ya doin' here? Don't ya have more opponents?"

"Was jus' takin' a look o'er de field, an' noticed dat de buckethead ain't fightin', nor are de people at his side." Remy waved at where Magneto was standing, overlooking the battlefield with one man and two women on his side. Logan frowned. "Ya got Sabretooth there, but I don't know the other two."

It was then that at least the power of one of the unknown women became clear, as she rose into the air and rocketed towards Andrea at a signal of Magneto, seeing how most of their army already had been taken down. Andrea just had time to swear and drop Remy before she was rammed in mid-air, making her spin and slam into the ground. She coughed as she got to her feet, spitting some blood from her mouth. She ignored the worried exclamation of Remy as the blond haired woman landed in front of her. The woman smirked. "So you're the infamous Zephyr."

"Ah see m' reputation precedes _moi_. Unfortunately Ah cain't say de same o' y'." Andrea smirked coldly as the woman bristled. The blonde scowled. "I am Ms Marvel."

"Don' ring any bells."

Ms Marvel snarled. "I will kill you."

"_Pourquoi_?" Andrea smiled innocently as she circled around the woman. "Ah haven' done anyt'ing t' yo'."

"You are a traitor to your kind!"

"Ain't no traitor, _petite_." Andrea grinned, then whistled sharply, sending several slashes of wind at the blond, who simply put her arms up. As the slashes passed, she put them down and smirked as she showed she had no wounds. "I am invulnerable. You cannot beat me."

Then with an angry scream, she flew at Andrea, who barely managed to dodge the blond projectile and goggled a bit at the crater the impact of the blonde with the ground left behind.

"Super strong too, _hein_? Ah c'n work wit' dat." Now serious, the Assassin jumped up, floating in the air as the blonde got up and glared. Ms Marvel also jumped into the air, and rocketed towards Andrea, only to be thrown back by a harsh wind that slammed into her. Andrea now smirked. "Y' mig't fly, _fille_, an' y' mig't be strong, _mais_ Ah am de mistress o' de sky. Dere ain't no way y' will be able t' take _moi_ on in mah element."

Marvel screamed angrily, then rocketed off again.

Meanwhile, on the ground Remy gave a bemused look as Wolverine and Sabretooth jumped each other and started rolling around on the ground, giving and receiving wound after wound, and healing just as fast. He quickly dodged to the side as the other woman who stood on Magneto's side threw a knife at him. The woman was also a blonde, but now a white-blond, and she was dressed entirely in white. And dressed like, as Andrea would say, a hooker during New Orleans summer. Very scantily. The woman frowned as she held a hand to her temple and Remy felt someone trying to slam through his shields. He smirked as the woman became more and more frustrated as her attacks didn't work. Finally he leaned on his staff in boredom and yawned. "Y' 'bout finished yet, _fille_?"

The woman sneered. "How?"

"How what, _cherie_?"

"How do you stop my psychic blasts!" She fumed.

"_C__'__est__simple_." Remy smirked. "Gambit 's shielded, _chienne_."

The blonde fumed some more, then got out another knife and turned into diamond. "Then I'll deal with you the common way."

Remy smirked as he readied his staff. This would be hopefully a better fight than all the other mutants gave him. He was a professional, not some puffed up home boy, after all. The woman stalked towards him with a smirk. "Remember my name, for the short while you'll have to live, and know of the Ice Queen."

Whirling his staff, Remy sunk low in his stance, smirk growing wider. "Y' talk big, _fille_, _mais_ y' ain't backed 't up. De Gambit ain't easy prey."

With an angry snarl, the diamond woman pounced.

* * *

><p>Remy sighed as he pulled his knife free of the corpse of the Ice Queen. The woman had been good, oh yes, but she hadn't been able to keep her mutation up, fatigue making her slip and reverting her back to normal flesh. She had been easy to take out after that. The girl-mutant had been so angry, and so convinced of her own superiority, not believing anything he said or even contemplating the fact that she might lose. She had been very surprised when his knife slipped between her ribs. He sighed again, then looked around for Andrea, who looked to be finishing up.<p>

Andrea was hovering in the air, her lip split and blood in her mouth from some hits to the face and internal injuries, a cold look on her face as she held up her hand. In front of her Ms Marvel was floating, clawing at her neck and growing purple. Andrea sneered. "Invincible, _ouias_? E'en den y' can't survive wit'out air, _chienne_. Try hittin' _moi_ now, hm?"

It took some time, but eventually the flying blonde became limp, and fell from the air like a block of concrete. She landed in a crater, and Andrea slowly hovered down, still holding the vacuum around the invincible mutant until her heart stopped beating. Finally she released the air with a sigh, then turned to Remy with a grin. "Haven' had sucha fight in a long time, _mon__amour_. De _fille_ was a hard egg t' crack."

Remy grinned back, a retort on his lips, but that died in his throat as suddenly a wide metal pipe appeared through Andrea's chest. She looked down in complete surprise, then coughed up some blood and collapsed limply. Remy choked his panic down and fairly flew towards her, picking her up and rocking her in his arms. She didn't move, only jerking a bit and coughing up more blood, her eyes wide with pain and anger.

As he looked over to where the pipe had come from, he saw Magneto being held down by Beast, having gotten several cure-bullets pushed into his chest.

As in slow motion he saw the others of the Guilds look his way, their expressions of shock and horror as they realised what had happened and then their run towards them, Arclight already having her phone out and calling in for medics. Faintly he heard someone screaming as Andrea's eyes closed, and pleading in a mix of English and French, and it was only as Wolverine tried to bring him up on his feet that he realised that it was him making all that racket. Medics from the Guild arrived quickly, having had back-up ready in case things went south, and they pried Andrea from Remy with difficulty. When they left, Remy simply stood, completely numb. He couldn't believe it. His Andrea, one of the best of the Assassins. Run through.

He didn't protest as Sunfire led him away towards some transport, and he didn't react as the other X-men gathered and left in their jet, throwing sympathetic looks at his back. He only reacted slightly as a sobbing Rogue attached herself to him by holding her tightly, and nodded to John, who put his hand on his shoulder. There was nothing now that he could do, other than wait.


End file.
